The Fountain Hills High School boys soccer season came to an end last week. The Falcons went 1-11 this year and played their final three games of the season last week. The last two games were the closest losses of the season and showed promise for next year.

The Falcons lost 6-0 to No. 6 Northwest Christian (8-3) on Monday, Jan. 23, but they avoided the mercy rule. The Falcons lost due to the mercy rule three times this season, all in the first half of the season.

On Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Falcons hosted Highland Prep (4-7-1) for senior night, but they were without four-year starter senior Nico Cini because of illness. Senior defender Alex Fessenden and senior goalkeeper Zach Gratton each only played for the team this season, but they were honored the same.

“It was actually Anthony [Kasson] from last year, he wanted me to play this year,” Gratton said. “I told him I would last year, so I was a man of my word and played this year.”

Gratton and Fessenden knew Kasson from last year’s team, but they admitted to knowing very few people on the team coming into this season. Fessenden said Gratton recruited him for this year, and it was his first time playing since middle school.

“I like soccer, I’ve always really liked the sport,” Fessenden said. “I don’t watch it a lot, but I like playing it. It’s just fun.”

Fessenden said he hoped the Falcons would earn a better record, but he didn’t think they were a bad team. The Falcons were often short-handed and found themselves fighting uphill battles almost every game.

The Falcons did make their final two games interesting. On senior night, junior Jaxson Butcher scored on a penalty kick with 13:48 left to make it 4-1. Less than two minutes later, sophomore Griffin Bos scored a goal after sophomore Tyler Griggs’ shot bounced off the goalkeeper’s foot, making it 4-2.

The Falcons had momentum and Butcher had another shot attempt in the final 10 minutes that went just a little too high. He kicked it from about 20 yards away and the ball went under the field goal cross bars and was about a foot too high for a soccer goal.

While the coaches and players wanted to steal a win for their seniors, the opponents held on to win in the end. However, it was the first time the Falcons had scored since their lone win, 9-0 over Phoenix Christian on Jan. 5.

“It was 3-0 at the beginning,” head coach Malcolm Cutting said. “They scored, I don’t know, five minutes in [to the second half] and then we started. It was beautiful. It's beautiful to watch these young men gel, and when they start communicating and passing, look out. That was fun.”

The Falcons had high hopes in their last game against Scottsdale Christian Academy (3-6). The Eagles scored in the first five minutes off an extremely long shot that ricocheted into the goal, but the Falcons held strong. Butcher would tie the game 1-1 with 24 minutes left in the first half, and the teams were tied at halftime.

Sophomore Matthew D’Anna was on fire and assisted Butcher’s goal. Unfortunately, D’Anna went out with an injury late in the first half and the Falcons missed his energy in the second half.

The Eagles scored two goals in quick succession around the 33- and 30-minute marks, and the Falcons couldn’t answer with their own goals. Gratton did save four different penalty kicks from scoring, and he gave the Falcons a chance to come back with his saves.

Gratton said he hadn’t played soccer since elementary school, and he still earned the starting goalie spot. There are several freshmen who impressed Cutting this year, and Xander Hewitt has experience as goalkeeper. Based on what Cutting saw from him in other positions, Hewitt might start somewhere else next season, but Cutting will have options in goal.

Mason Meyen, Matthew Gonzalez and Leander Rosenquist all played valuable minutes as freshmen and will be heavily relied on next year in Cutting’s second year. He said he will emphasize preseason conditioning and practices more this offseason, and his hopes are high for 2023-24.

“It’s fun to become friends with these guys that I never would’ve talked to if I didn’t play soccer,” Gratton said. “It's been nice to bond with them and grow as a team with them. Although our record might not be the best, we’ve had fun doing it.”