Nationally Ranked DeMatha Soccer Team 'Has a Lot of Expectations'

Success is nothing new for Dafydd Evans and the Dematha Catholic High School soccer team.

The Stags have won four Washington Catholic Athletic Confernce championships in Evans’ nine years as head coach, including last season, after which Dematha was ranked as the third-best team in the country, and the top team in the region by Adidas and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

And despite having to replace Cody Albrecht, last year’s WCAC Player of the Year, Evans is optimistic this season’s team could be even better.

Currently, the Stags are ranked as the second best team in the country by the NSCAA. Eight of their 11 starters from last year have returned and they have won their first two games to start this season. They defeated St. Vincent Pallotti, 7-0, August 30 and Blair, 3-0 on September 3.

“We’re definitely excited,” Evans said. “We had a very good preseason, have a good returning core of players and have a lot of expectations for the season.”

In cruising to a 24-0 record last season, and the WCAC title, Dematha outscored its opponents by a dominant margin of 110-10. The Stags scored multiple goals in 23 of their 24 games, including three goals or more in 19 of their last 20 games. Their 110 goals set a new NSCAA Maryland state record.

At the same time, though, Dematha’s defense posted 14 shutouts and allowed no more than one goal in any of the 24 games.

In the WCAC playoffs, the Stags beat Archbishop Carroll 7-0 in the quarterfinals, Paul VI 7-0 in the semifinals and Gonzaga 5-1 in the WCAC championship game.

“We’re fortunate to be pretty balanced,” Evans said. “And returning most of our players, we’re hopefully going to be very hard to beat again. We just want to continue our journey, though, continue to do things the right way, continue to work hard and continue to improve every day.”

Without Albrecht, though, as well as fellow departures Lester Hayes, a forward, and goalie Daniel Sheerin, Evans says this year’s Stags will have to work to build chemistry, especially early in the season.

Hayes led the team in goals (22) last year. Albrecht, meanwhile, scored 10 goals and dished out an NSCAA record 30 assists.

Evans, however, is very confident in this year’s group to not only develop that chemistry, but be able to offset the losses of the departing players.

Evans said defender Michael Parker, forward Vince Conti and midfielder Jacori Hayes will all be counted on to play big roles for Dematha this season. Parker, a captain and three-year varsity starter, will continue his playing career at the Naval Academy following high school.

Including Parker and Conti, the Stags have 10 seniors on this year’s team.

“With us being so young last year, our biggest strong-point this year is our experience,” Evans said. “Our goals are relatively similar every year, though. We want to win the WCAC and, very simply, finish ranked as high as we can in the country.”

Evans added, “We’re just going to enjoy every day, though, and just aim to win our next game, which is always the biggest one.”