WATERFORD — Joe Ishraidi sensed a shift was needed.
The energy within his DeWitt boys soccer program wasn’t sitting well with the 12th year coach.
So instead of taking the field for practice the day after their Oct. 7 CAAC Silver Cup finals loss to Mason, the Panthers had a team meeting.
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They aired things out with players and coaches being brutally honest with each other. And once the coaches left, the players talked on their own led by the seniors.
“We wrote a bunch of stuff down on a whiteboard and we all signed it,” DeWitt senior goalkeeper Vince Rose said. “I know it’s a little cliché, but I think it worked. We started to care for each other and fight for our brothers.”
That meeting provided the spark for what turned out to be the Panthers’ deepest playoff run since reaching the state semifinals in 2021.
That tournament run came to an end Wednesday, November 4 with a 3-2 loss to No. 6-ranked Warren De La Salle in a Division 2 state semifinal at Waterford Kettering High School.
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But despite the ending, the last few weeks proved to Rose, Ishraidi and others in the program what is possible when all are on the same page
“I think it just shows the power of guys buying in and being willing to work towards something that’s bigger than themselves,” Ishraidi said. “I couldn’t have said that a month ago. We had a great conversation as a team, and they all decided to start focusing in and work hard in practice and that we’re going to execute everything we talk about in practice, It’s amazing what can happen when you have 25 guys that buy in.”
The way the Panthers (13-5-5) came together over the last few weeks was on display in Wednesday’s semifinal. DeWitt fell into an early two-goal deficit in the opening 10 minutes. But they kept fighting, scoring a goal in the middle stages of the opening half when Mason Raborn found the back of the net.
That fight continued in the second half and DeWitt eventually tied the game at 2 with 4:17 remaining on a goal by freshman Jake Wever.
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Warren De La Salle broke that tie with a goal with 55 seconds remaining off a corner kick that ultimately led to the end of the road for the Panthers.
And while the ending stung, Rose is proud of the journey over the last few weeks that included this year’s team adding a layer to DeWitt’s postseason success. The Panthers knocked off No. 3-ranked Lansing Eastern in a district final on the way to capturing a third regional title since 2020. DeWitt captured a seventh district title in eight season this fall.
“We were kind of the Cinderella story almost,” Rose said. “We were underdogs back in (the) district. I’m just really proud of the way we showed up for each other.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: State semifinal ending for DeWitt boys soccer fueled by October meeting
