The 2023 fall sports season was an incredible one for Friends School. The Quakers had four teams win championships, one team as a runner up, 17 all-conference athletes, and two students individually recognized by the MIAA or IAAM.

Assistant Athletic Director Ken Zalis attributes the season’s success to “a combination of an influx of a really good freshman class, as well as some really good coaches.”

The teams who won the championship this season were MIAA Junior Varsity Soccer, MIAA Varsity Soccer, IAAM Varsity Soccer, and MIAA Junior Varsity Cross Country. 

Junior Ejaz Ibrahim, an active part of the undefeated MIAA Varsity soccer team, says the team was successful, even from its first game.

“We had our first conference game against Cristo Ray, and, you know, it was probably the best game we played this year,” he says. “It was an 8-0 Game”

Ibrahim says he thinks what led to such a successful season was a mixture of good coaching from head coach Tyler Wilhelm, and how close the team was.

“The overall team bonding and love for each other was great, because it contributed to the team chemistry,” he says. “We would always talk in school.”

Girls varsity soccer also went undefeated this season, winning in the championship 3-0 against Catholic High School. Junior Elaina Pearce, part of the winning team, says leadership and confidence played a big role in their success.

“Our coach [made a difference], definitely. We had a female coach who was amazing. I also think that we had a lot of leadership on the team this year – everyone was confident in themselves,” says Elaina. “We were a very strong team.”

The other two teams to win championships were boys JV soccer and boys JV cross country. The soccer team went 4-1-1 in conference, and beat Beth Tfiloh 1-0 in the championship on our very own Deering Field. The cross country team also went undefeated and won the championship this year.

Along with the many championships the Quakers won this season, two Friends students were individually recognized by the IAAM and MIAA. One of them was Brayden Mathias ‘24, who got the award of MIAA C conference Athlete of the Year in soccer. 

Zalis had nothing but great things to say about Brayden.

“Brayden, what can you say about him? I mean, he was fantastic all year, scored the winning goal. In the championship game, he was really the glue to that team this year, from the back line,” he says. “Great leader and really well deserved.”

His teammate Ejaz was also impressed by Brayden’s drive.

“He was the key for our team,” Ejaz says. “His overall strength… although he went through that one injury, getting a concussion, he came back even stronger. He would even run during our practices, when he wasn’t able to be cleared.”

Sophomore and girls’ soccer player Daryn Barnes was also individually recognized, and received the IAAM athlete of the week award. Zalis says it was well-deserved.

 “Darren, she was great all year. She’s a special player. We’re very fortunate to have her,” he says. “Her performance in the championship game stood on its own.”

The success of this season also poses the question of whether the Quakers will be able to keep up this momentum through the next couple of years. 

“I think just continue to grow. Internally, we have a really enthusiastic 6th grade class that really jumped in, really interested in sports here,” says Zalis. “I think we need to continue to cultivate from within as well as continue the efforts that we’ve had with our admissions program.”

Next fall season, we can expect to see the girls varsity soccer team moving up to the B conference. But the addition of new freshmen makes the 2024 season a very hopeful one for girls varsity soccer. As for boys varsity and JV soccer, along with cross country, they will be staying put in their conferences, as they switched conferences this year, and the MIAA has a 2-year commitment. Other teams, such as field hockey and volleyball, will also be staying in their current conferences. 

Zalis says he thinks each of the sports played in the right conference this season. As for next season, he’s optimistic.

“I think everybody’s going to kind of stay, [apart from girls soccer],” he says. “We’ll play it by ear next year. After next year, we have the opportunity to move in each conference so we’ll see what we do.”