HEADS UP: Hun School boys’ soccer player Conor Frykholm goes up for a header in action last season. Senior star and Babson commit Frykholm has starred in the midfield for the Raiders this fall as they have started 4-5-1. In upcoming action, Hun will play at Peddie on October 11 in the opening round of the Prep A state tournament before playing at the Hill School (Pa.) on October 14 in a regular season contest. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

For the Hun School boys’ soccer team, last week proved to be a microcosm of a season that has turned into bit of a bumpy ride.

Playing at Life Center Academy on October 3, Hun rolled to a 4-0 win as four different players scored goals.

“We were firing on all cylinders we came out really strong,” said Hun head coach Pat Quirk, who got goals from Conor Frykholm, Zachary Stark, Toba Olaleye, and Christian Wolfe in the win. “We had balanced scoring, we scored early and we scored often. It was nice.”

The defense also produced a nice effort against the Warriors, led by junior goalie Diego Pena who made six saves.

“Diego had some good saves in that game, he has had some big saves this year to keep them all close,” said Quirk. “I have been super happy with him and the back line. Alden Hill has been solid guy in the back. Bradford Barnes and Chris Meehan have been back there to solidify things. We are playing with three right now.”

Three days later as Hun hosted the Blair Academy, the Raiders took an early 1-0 lead but misfired after that in playing to a 1-1 draw with the Buccaneers.

“We came out strong, we scored early; I thought it was going to be like Life Center again but we struggled to score again,” said Quirk. “We created a lot of opportunities, but they are pretty organized defensively and one guy who can get dangerous. We had the ball in their half of the field for the majority of the game and we struggled to put it in.”

Senior Stark tallied the Hun goal against Blair to give him a team-high five goals on the season.

“We had him as a winger and he said, ‘let me play in the middle,’ so we have got him on the ball a little bit more,” said Quirk. “We started him at center mid. Now he has a role up top. He has bounced around between the two of them. He is a guy that when he is in the box, he wants to beat his defender to the ball.”

With Hun moving to 4-5-1 in the wake of the draw with the Buccaneers, Quirk believes his team is playing a good brand of soccer.

“The way that we have been playing has been really good, we focus a lot on just playing simple, finding the next guy, just connecting passes,” said Quirk. “I have been really happy with that, how we have been working the ball that way.”

Quirk has been happy with the work he has been getting from senior star midfielder and Babson commit Frykholm.

“Conor has been a leader in the middle of the field,” said Quirk of Frykholm, who has tallied three goals and three assists this season. “He is just a competitor, he rarely comes off. He has gotten really good in the air and his distribution has been really solid too.”

Noting that 10 players have scored goals for the Raiders so far this season, Quirk likes the way the scoring load has been distributed.

“It has been a whole team thing, it is super balanced,” said Quirk. “There is no one superstar who is taking the team on their back like we have had the last couple of years.”

With Hun playing at Peddie on October 11 in the opening round of the Prep A state tournament before playing at the Hill School (Pa.) on October 14 in a regular season contest, Quirk is looking for a big team effort down the stretch.

“I have heard that Peddie has a couple of guys, definitely one guy up top who can score,” said Quirk. “We have to go there, it is always a little tough on their grass but I think our guys are going to be ready. We talked after the Blair game about how the basic thing is to let go of what the outcome of the game is going to be and just do the best we can together and compete.”