The Ipswich High School Boys Varsity Soccer team is exhilarated going into playoffs after finishing an amazing regular season. For the first time ever, the program is ranked seventh in the state.
The team started the season strong, with a sweeping win against Georgetown 5-0. They then followed that game by a few ties, and even a couple losses; but there was one loss in particular that struck them differently. It was Amesbury. The boys haven’t lost to Amesbury for “as long as they can remember” says Nathaniel Pitner, and this one was a grave disaster. Nathaniel claims that the “energy was low the entire game” and that “we took them for granted when we should have taken them just as serious as any other team.” After that loss, they didn’t look at any team the same. They went undefeated for the rest of the season. After a hard fought tie against a very strong Lynnfield squad, as well as another important tie against Hamilton Wenham and the first time we ever got points off of North Reading, the boys have had one of the best seasons at the school. For the first time ever, they were able to get into the top ten in the power rankings, as well as get as low as seventh for a short time. Now with the season coming to an end, the team is ending with a record of 7-4-7. The boys are extremely excited to host their first ever home playoff game and hope to carry on strong going into the playoffs. The question that is up for discussion is what caused these boys to make it this far? Is this a changing point in the history of the Ipswich High School Varsity Boys Soccer team?
The history of the power rankings begins in 2021, with captains Cade Wetter, Thatch Phypers, and Spencer Johnson, whom placed 32 in the ranking. Later moving to 2022, with captains Theo Norton, Brian Milano, and Alex Barlow, the team ended the regular season with an improvement to 27th place. The next year, Jack Totten, Sam Sirois, and Will Harrington made a slight improvement to 26th. In 2024, captains Spencer McDavitt and Zane Norton led the team to 21st. This year with captains Yianni Nikolaou, Jacoby Scarano, and Finn Wright, the team was able to get to tenth place.
When Ipswich High School Boys Varsity Soccer coach Greg Scruton was asked what made them so high in the power rankings this year, he claimed: “I don’t even think about those things. I just focus what do we need to do to be the best that we can be.” The mindset embraced by Coach Scruton is like none other. His ability to focus on the little things, and forget about rankings, wins or losses is what separates him from any other coach.
Coach also noted that “the interesting thing about high school sports is that every year a new group leaves and a new group comes in, and the team brings on a different personality. Each school goes through the same thing. It’s not only how you are doing as a program, but how other teams are. We lose players, other teams lose players. Pat has done a great job (JV Coach) helping the younger guys develop. The leadership of the upperclassmen is showing what it takes to be successful with culture, work ethic, and lifting each other up. Everybody wants to improve each year and set a new standard, the culture of wanting to be better has taken hold, and what does that mean?”
As the boys enter playoffs, the question is, will they uphold what they’ve previously shown? Will they continue to strive, and possibly win it all? Regardless of how far they go, this season has already marked a new chapter in Ipswich Boys Soccer history
