The Whitney Young Boys soccer team finished the regular season with a record of 12-5-4, with two semifinal finishes in the Pepsi Showdown and the City Playoffs. However, as Coach McCarthy calls it, “The new season is here. Let’s go out and shock a few teams.” The boys began the season struggling, stated best by Leo Daley ‘18, “We’re dominating, but we can’t find the back of the net, and teams are taking full advantage.” The Dolphins started the season struggling with a mere 0-3-1 start. However, the change of formation led to an unleashing of goals. Since, the Dolphins are 12-2-3 in their last 17 games and are one of the hottest teams in the state. The boys’ are a little shaken up after their 1-0 loss to eventual city champion Washington in the city semifinals, but they look to get back on track. Rilwan Shittu ‘19 said “We are pretty disappointed we couldn’t get a crack at the city championship, but the real season is here.” The team has made strong improvements in their run of form, both offensively and defensively. The team was led offensively by Josue Espinoza and Evan Wimberly. Josue plays a strong, physical, and passing game to make up 4 goals and 12 assists. Evan plays with lots of speed and agility and made up for 17 goals and 6 assists. Josue and Evan were able to achieve 1st team All-City and 1st team All-Sectional awards. Josue also received All-State and is in the discussion to receive an All-Midwest or All-American award. However, with strong offense also comes strong defense. The defense led by sophomore Alex Espino (All-Sectional), sophomore Esme McCarthy (All-Conference), senior Christion Rice (All-Conference), junior Jonathan Perez and senior keeper Dixon O’Banion are workhorses. Each member of the team has improved, and looking to state the team received the #6 seed in the deep Hinsdale Central tournament. The team is ranked higher in their sectional than 2014 state champion Hinsdale Central and Windy City Ram finalist Argo. The Dolphins have been ranked in the state as high as 23rd and in the top 250 in the country. The Dolphins are flying and really want to win some games as a big underdog. Dixon O’Banion ‘18 said “Teams are already counting us out because of how we began the season, but it’s time to shock the world.” We wish the Best of Luck to the Dolphins!