LAUREL — Chesapeake Science Point coach Arif Albayrak understood his players were upset to lose in Saturday’s Class 1A boys soccer state semifinal, 4-1 to Brunswick. But he would not let them feel like losers.
“You are the winner today,” Albayrak told them. “There is no discussion about it.”
Chesapeake Science Point opened in 2005 but didn’t add athletics until 2013. Since then, no Tigers team has been able to battle to the state tournament. At least, not until now.
Albayrak has led the program for a decade, nearly its entire existence. He fondly remembers the scraggly patch of grass down the street from the school they used to practice on in the early years. He recalls only carrying six players on the roster after the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
They had fun, he remembered, but they weren’t exactly skilled soccer players. Once in a while, he’d have a talented player come along. One typically wasn’t enough. The county, stacked with elite Class 4A and 3A programs, gave the team its bruises every season.
But he and his staff — Franko Albayrak, Ariel Balestrieri and John Roberts — devoted themselves for the long haul. They invested in middle school students, building clubs, coaching and playing alongside the kids.
This season, a team listing 10 sophomores, six freshmen and a handful upperclassmen competed further than any other public school team in Anne Arundel County.
“It makes a big difference,” Albayrak said. “It brought us here.”
Battling through the first few stages of the season was an adjustment, he admitted. The coaches worked to implement different defenses. They suffered lopsided losses in the first week.
But on Sept. 25, the Tigers turned a corner. They beat Old Mill, 1-0.They beat CMIT North (which they’d meet again in the postseason) 4-2. Even defeats to Meade and Glen Burnie were one or two goal-games. They capped the regular season with a 3-0 shutout of Southern.
CSP amassed 11 goals through the region playoffs – mostly off senior Jayden Antwi’s foot or head – and topped International HS at Langley, 4-2 in their first ever state quarterfinal.
The Tigers looked to power through their star senior again.
Antwi replied to the Railroaders’ icebreaker within two minutes, an opportunistic header to knot the game at 1 for most of the first half.
CSP could only bar the door for Brunswick senior forward Chris Vasquez Molina for so long. The tallest figure on the field at 6-foot-4 camped at the threshold of the box while his teammates ushered the ball down field.
“He’s exceptional,” Albayrak complimented. “If he’s not there, this game would’ve been very good.”
Even down by three goals at the half, the Tigers kettled the field of play to the attacking third. Players like senior Olamide Makinde and Darnell Witten surged toward the box repeatedly but nothing had the strength to bite.
“We couldn’t hold the position we wanted,” Albayrak said. “Earlier games, we could. We lost too many balls on the sides and couldn’t go through Jayden. Our opponent studied us.”
With 14 minutes left, Witten careened at Brunswick freshman goalkeeper Alex Tully, beating one Railroader back and picking off another when he’d try to steal the ball away from him. He lined what could’ve been a tide-turner 10 yards out from the net to the corner. Tully dove to stop it.
Shortly after, Antwi tried his luck again, firing a bullet from his toe despite the horde of four Brunswick defenders crowding him. Tully was there again.
But for the four seniors on the roster, Albayrak adamantly assured his players that this was not a blip.
“This,” he said, “is the beginning for CSP boys soccer.”
Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.