On their senior nights, the Moorestown Friends School boys soccer team and girls field hockey team honored their seniors in the best way possible: a win. 

Boys Soccer

MFS boys soccer beat Maple Shade 2-1 at home on October 9 to pick up their first home win of the 2020-21 season.

The Foxes got on the board first with a goal from Sulayman Hussain (’23) 20 minutes into the first half. Not long after, MFS built upon their lead with a goal from Evan Kolaris (’22) before halftime. 

Maple Shade put pressure on MFS with a goal late in the second half to bring the score within one goal, but the Foxes were able to contain Maple Shade’s late push and secure the win, bringing them to 2-1 on the season so far.

“We haven’t started the season off 100% like we wanted to, so this is a good time to get it all together with our fans [in attendance],” said Hussain. 

In addition to picking up their first home win, the boys soccer team also celebrated their seniors on their 2020-21 senior night with a special ceremony at halftime, led by Head Coach Mike Schlotterbeck.

“My freshman year I didn’t even think I was making varsity. I thought I was barely making the cut,” said goalkeeper Mikey Paznokas (’21), who got to celebrate his senior night as a varsity team captain. “When coach [Schlotterbeck] took me on he set me a bar to raise and I raised it. I’ve just been working my butt off for four years and I’m just glad that we got to this place and I’m really happy to be a senior and be part of this varsity team.” 

This year’s senior night felt a little different for Coach Schlotterbeck, not just because the ceremony was forced to change due to the Coronavirus, but because his oldest son, Evan Schlotterbeck, was being honored. 

“It was very emotional,” said Coach Schlotterbeck. “It’s the first time I’ve ever had a senior day for one of my boys, so it was fairly emotional and I was just really happy. We have a really large group of seniors, we had a great weather day, and three months ago I wasn’t sure we’d be out here so I was overjoyed to be out here on the fields on a great day.” 

As Coach Schlotterbeck said, the team is senior heavy this year, with 12 seniors on the roster. Coach Sclotterbeck stressed how important it is for the younger players to step up in games like these. 

“We’re not overly deep, so we’re gonna need the young guys to step up and they’ve done a pretty good job for us. Our goal is to be peaking around mid November. We want to keep getting better and better with every game and I thought that was some of the best soccer that we’ve played this year so far,” said Coach Schlotterbeck. 

The Foxes will look to continue their winning streak through the regular season and into the state tournament.

Girls Field Hockey 

Coming off of a 1-0 win against Riverside, the girls field hockey team wanted to keep that winning spirit alive in their home opener against Holy Cross Preparatory Academy. 

After a slow start, Jordan Obermeier (‘21) netted the Foxes first goal with 40 seconds left in the half. After halftime, the girls showed no signs of slowing down, scoring within seconds of the start of the third quarter. They added one more goal to their count with 8 minutes left in the game, eventually beating Holy Cross 3-0 in their first game home. 

Bella McCollister (‘21) acknowledged the role that the team’s energy played in their victory: “You could see how much energy we had on the field. We really connected during this game. [The] beginning of this season,” McCollister continued, “we weren’t really feeling it. But today, we definitely got [our energy] back.” 

She explained how extra special this win was: “It was so awesome to get a win on our senior night.”

 McCollister is one of the 8 seniors celebrated before the game. This is no ordinary senior class. They have been through one of the most successful runs in the history of the MFS girls field hockey program. They have reached state finals, been crowned Friends League champions, and have also had to experience the heartache of coming so close to first place, but falling short. 

“[These seniors] have been through it all,” Head Coach Danielle Dayton said. “To be able to have a moment to stop and reflect and celebrate their four years and their dedication to something they love felt important to me. I felt relieved,” Dayton continued, “and I felt happy for the seniors.” 

These seniors hope to make their last season their best season yet. McCollister has high hopes for this team.“ We definitely want to make it through states as far as we can,” she said. But at the end of the day, McCollister just wants to make this “the best season possible.” 

The reigning Friends League champions look to continue their winning streak this season as they make their way through state play.