Boys Soccer

Crean Lutheran boys soccer team has a promising future

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."  1 Timothy 4:8
Crean Lutheran’s boys soccer team enjoyed considerable success in the Academy League under Coach Glen Worthington. Now, the Saints are adjusting to the Empire League.

“We’re definitely on the upswing; moving from the Academy League to the Empire League last year was a big wake-up call in terms of competition and in what we need to do in training and what level we need to be at during games,” said Worthington, now in his eighth year.

“We expect significant growth this year as we build toward being a perennial contender.” In the three levels (frosh-soph, junior varsity and varsity) there are 14 freshmen this year and 26 new players to the soccer program, the coach said. “So it's definitely a huge program growth year for us, which will hopefully lead to consistently high level incoming athletes every year,” Worthington said.

There are no seniors on this year’s team but there are six returners from last year’s varsity squad, including defensive leader and captain junior Kayden Lee and last season's assist leader junior Connor Grace. Other returning players include sophomore Evan Legator, juniors Nico Taylor and Royce Um and sophomore Joseph Yang.

All of the team’s home games will be played this year on the campus stadium field. The team opens the season on Monday, November 18, hosting Northwood at 6 p.m. “It’s a great field and it’s going to be such a huge time saver and benefit to the program for years to come, so we’re all excited,” Worthington said.

Throughout the season, the team will be following its Bible Verse, Worthington said.

‘The verse reminds us to keep first things first,” Worthington said. “Godliness has value for all things and should be our priority. But God recognizes that training is valuable too. So we use this verse as a baseline to set team values and team priorities.”

Crean Lutheran boys soccer team makes significant strides

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."  1 Timothy 4:8

Crean Lutheran’s boys soccer team made big strides in the second year of Empire League play and achieved many of its goals.
“We were committed to overcoming adversity by playing our best for God, for our school, and for our teammates,” said Coach Glen Worthington.

“The Christian character and value is really important to me and to the team and to the program. It’s always very encouraging to hear them (players) say, ‘it’s a family, I’ve got good friends, I feel supported,’ and I think that is an outgrowth of us investing in Christian values and Christian character. They have that sort of brotherly love for another that is encouraged in scripture.”

On the field, Worthington said there was progress.“We saw significant growth: all teams placed higher than the year before; even in losses all teams were more competitive than the year before; and varsity showed dramatic improvement in goals scored and goals against averages,” he said.

“The varsity team and the JV team really improved in their competitiveness….the trajectory is definitely looking upwards and especially on a team with no seniors, we’re expecting the teams to come back as they are or even better.”

The team did not have any seniors, but still had strong leadership, led by defender and captain Connor Grace and two other captains Kayden Lee and Nico Taylor.
Striker Daniel Chun was the leading scorer with six goals. “Goalie Patrick Broderick had an incredible save percentage for the year, kept us close in almost every game,” Worthington said.  

Grace and Broderick earned first team all-league recognition and Joseph Yang was selected second team all-league.

Experienced Crean Lutheran boys soccer team looking to make a big run in the CIF playoffs

Crean Lutheran High School’s boys soccer team is aiming for a big run in the CIF playoffs under Coach Glen Worthington. In order to help them reach their goals, Worthington said the players apply two Bible verses.

PRIORITIES

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8

 PRIDE

“Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.” Galatians 6:4-5

“Our priority is to put God first in all things and that shows up in the way we treat our teammates, the way we interact with our opponents and the referees and the way we hold ourselves to a high standard to be excellent as to unto the Lord and to hold ourselves accountable to be our best,” he said.

Worthington said he is excited about this year’s team. “We’re returning our whole team and we’ve added some key pieces, we have a couple of highly talented freshmen coming in,” Worthington said. “We’re in a really good position to compete for the league title hopefully and to qualify and make a run in CIF.” The team’s last league game is scheduled Thursday, May 6. “We’re hoping our season goes three weeks after that,” Worthington said. “The CIF finals are at the end of May and it would be a blessing to make it that far.” 

Among the leaders are senior goalie and captain Nate Kim, who has signed to play at Claremont McKenna next year and senior forward Justin Lee. “Nate has been doing really well for us as well as a returning goalie Patrick Broderick and Justin is scoring a bunch of goals and giving out a bunch of assists as well as our returning seniors Daniel Chun, Jaden Park and Connor Richardson,” Worthington said. Senior Kayden Lee is another key player who will play center defense. Connor Grace, a kicker on the football team, will also join the soccer squad later, Worthington said. Grace was the MVP of the soccer team last year.

Crean Lutheran boys soccer team has a break-through season

‘For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.’ 1 Timothy 4:8-10

During challenging times, the Crean Lutheran High School boys soccer players, coached by Glen Worthington, had a season to be proud of. The boys soccer season, which normally starts in November, was delayed until March due to the pandemic.

“In the difficult circumstances of an unusual school year, our team overcame injuries, dual sport schedule conflicts and exhaustion from several athletes simultaneously playing high school and club to achieve a remarkable second place finish in the Empire League; all the more impressive as we only finished behind the top ranked team in Division 2 CIF and ahead of another Division 2 ranked team,” Worthington said.

The Saints went on to win two CIF playoff matches. “Credit goes to everyone on the varsity roster as everyone played a valuable role in our success,” the coach said. Leading the way for the Saints was team MVP Justin Lee, who had 20 goals (tied for second most goals scored in one season all-time) and five assists. The offensive player of the year was Daniel Chun, who had six goals and 10 assists (tied for third most assists in one-season all-time) and defensive player of the year goalkeeper Nate Kim (five shutouts) who had “countless game-changing saves,” according to Worthington. 

“The spirit of Christ Award-winner Kayden Lee's quiet and consistent leadership as well as coach’s award-winner Connor Grace's unquestionable effort and drive kept our team focused and intent on our mission of training hard and growing in faith (1 Timothy 4:8),” Worthington said. “This team has set a high bar for future Crean Lutheran boys soccer teams to live up to.”

Crean Lutheran boys soccer team looks to build on successful season

‘For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.’ 1 Timothy 4:8-10

Crean Lutheran High School’s boys soccer team, coached by Glen Worthington, is looking to have another successful season.

“Coming off a number two finish in Empire League and a strong CIF showing, we're looking to build around returning varsity seniors Patrick Broderick (goalie), Joseph Yang (forward) and Scott Cho (forward): all three of which serve as team captains,” Worthington said.

“Other varsity returners include Solomon Hwang (sophomore, midfield), Lucas Tanikawa (junior, midfield) and Brian Kan (junior, forward). 

“While we graduated 13 seniors last year, including most of our starting lineup, we're looking to repeat last year's success rather than have a rebuilding year. Our initial target is CIF qualification with a repeat top three league finish.”.

The Saints started the season with a winning record against great competition, Worthington said.

“Broderick is exceptional in goal, giving us a foundation for success,” he said. “The brand new defense (no defensive returners) is finding its feet with a couple shut-outs already this year. Our new look offense is built on ball movement and counter-attack distribution rather than a focal star talent like last year.”

The players and coaches are also aiming to fulfill their mission to the Lord.

“This year's training shirt has the theme word ‘Perseverance’ and the theme verse ‘Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up  (Galatians 6:9).’ We are working hard to persevere in faith, character and soccer results,” the coach said.