After a record-breaking season, Creek’s playoff bid ended Nov. 6 with a heartbreaking last-minute goal in overtime by opponent Pine Creek. At the time, they were ranked number two in the state and had high hopes for the postseason.

It was freezing, and players and fans alike were stiff and cold. Creek went into overtime tied at nothing. The first overtime was scoreless, followed by a largely scoreless second overtime. That was, until the final minutes.

With less than a few minutes left, the main goalkeeper, James Puttmann, left the game and bench goalie Knox Quarles came in. It was unclear to the fans exactly what happened, though Puttmann said he took a knee so Quarles could come in, a strategy used by Barrera.

“Coach thinks it’s a psychological thing to put a different goalie in,” Puttmann said via text.

At the time, Quarles had been standing in freezing cold temperatures all night, with little to no warming-up time. And, in the last 30 seconds of overtime, Pine Creek scored the first goal of the night, leaving no time for Creek to answer.

Barrera believes that the switch between keepers played a minor role in the defeat.

“It was not about the goalkeeper, it was about timing,” he said. “We dominated the whole entire game. Out of three or four shots, they have that goal.”

Even with the disappointing defeat in the last game, Barerra doesn’t see the season as a failure.

“It was a great season. It was unfortunate how it ended,” Barrera said. “It was a sad story, but also it’s a learning experience.”

Creek couldn’t win the state championship; however, they were finally able to win the Centennial League, which is a major accomplishment for Creek.

“After many years we won the Centennial League championship, so that was a big accomplishment as a group,” Barrera said.

It may take time for a new coach to finally find a formation that works on a new team, but captain senior Cody Wellington believes that this season the team was able to find itself.

“This year, we really found our groove,” Wellington said. “I don’t know that we were a much better team technically, but we were a much better team in general, and kind of came together a little bit more.”

Sophomore Cyrus Gulati also thinks that the players were able to connect not only in the field but also off of it.

“We had a good team. We combined well, we had a good friendship,” Gulati said. “All of us liked each other, none of us didn’t like each other. So that’s what made us a team. Mentally we were all strong. Physically we were too.”

In the regular season, the team lost only two games. The final game was its third loss this year.

“In two games, we made two mistakes,” Barrera said. The coach cited inexperience as a factor in these losses. “It’s important to play better teams,” he said.

One of Creek’s two regular season losses was to top Delaware team Salesianum School, number five in the nation at the time. Creek was tied at the end of regular time, and though they lost in overtime, Barrera believes that this game was representative of Creek’s competitive gameplay.

“In regular time we tied the number five in the nation,” Barrera said of the game. “That is telling you what level play we have.”

With about a dozen senior players graduating this year, next year’s team will look different, but Barrera has a positive outlook.

“I believe that we have a good base,” he said. “I believe in our work.”

Gulati had similar hopes for the next season. “Next year, we will do good things,” he said. “We could win a championship next year.”