The Wolverines are headed to the playoffs again!  After years of success, performing in the playoffs has almost become synonymous with the Wakeland boys soccer team.  They were state champions in 2021 and 2022 and state finalists in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Now, after the team finished second in district with an overall record of 11-3-6 and a district record of 8-2-4, the playoffs await them again.  As they strive to continue the winning tradition, they deal with the pressure that goes along with it.  

“There is definitely some pressure to win state for the third year in a row, but as a team, we do a really good job of ignoring that pressure and focusing on winning each game at a time,” senior defender Arnav Kaul said.

As they learned to not let the pressure get to them, they also faced the struggle of having to rebuild their roster after the departure of 22 seniors from last year’s team.  

“We had to completely redo our roster and starting lineup, so many of us lack some experience in the playoffs,” Kaul said.  

With that inexperience, they are more likely to make mistakes, especially when carrying out attacks.  

“We mainly have to work on finishing our attacks and scoring goals. Our defense is relatively strong, so we [need to] consistently score goals [to win] another State Championship this year,” Kaul said.

To be more consistent with scoring, they will look to be more aggressive.  

“[We need to] take our shots when we get our chances and not look [to] pass,” junior forward Frank Miller said.

With the Wolverines looking to have another year of playoff success, they will begin their playoff journey tonight in the Bi-District Championship against Centennial at 8 p.m. at Independence High School.

“I am most excited about the environment.  It is nothing like district play, and every goal has so much excitement behind it,” senior goalkeeper Hayden Owens said.