Park Center Adaptive PI Soccer

12/06/2024

Yes!!!!

With 49% of the vote, 451 votes total, Ben Pfeifer’s Goal for Park Center Adapted Soccer is this week's Play of the Week Winner! Congratulations Ben!

11/19/2024

Unfortunately, Meta is going to Meta. For some reason they are not able to change the name of our Soccer page to encompass all of our teams. So: we made a new page!

Please go to https://www.facebook.com/OMGPCPIAdapted and “Like” it.

That is where posts on here will link to on Facebook starting with Floor Hockey.

Thanks.

Also, meet Ooth the Leaf. Fear him.

11/19/2024

The Park Center PI division adapted soccer team bounced back from a semifinal loss to beat Dakota United 7-1 in the 3rd place game at state.

11/19/2024

Ben Pfeifer's goal is up for Play of the Week:

Play of the Week Entry - Ben Pfeifer’s Goal for Park Center Adapted Soccer.To vote for this play, vote on our website: https://ccxmedia.org/ccx-sports-plays-...

11/18/2024

We are currently working with Facebook to change the name of our page from “Park Center PI Soccer” to reflect all of the sports that our District 279 athletes participate.

Once it is approved, the new page name will be “OMGPC Adapted PI Sports” and will be the Facebook home for all PI Adapted Sports: Park Center Pirates PI Soccer, Maple Grove Crimson PI Floor Hockey, and Osseo Oriole PI Softball.

If you currently subscribe to the page, there is nothing you need to do, You’ll simply notice the name change. If you’ve invited people to like the page, you may need to re-invite them so they know they’re on the correct page. The separate PI Hockey page and PI Softball page will be discontinued.

Thanks for your patience.

11/18/2024

Third place feels just lovely.

PI 3rd Place - Park Center

11/18/2024

Three really is a magic number.

The Pirates went into Saturday morning in unfamiliar, but welcome, waters. The Friday night dismantling of the Robins meant Park Center was playing for the first time in many years for hardware. Up first: top ranked Minneapolis South.

What South had going for them that most clubs do not is a willingness to play a physical brand of ball. They embraced collisions and fouls as a necessary part of breaking momentum and spirits. Combined with several players with great individual skills, they were able to jump out to an early lead.

The Pirate mantra for this second half of the season has been “Positivity and Tough Defense.” Sticking to that plan, they were able to find favorable wind and chip away at the South defense. Ben Pfeifer and Bryan Lopez used speed and shifty moves to break through – each getting a goal.

South’s eschewing of the rules caught up with them toward the end of the first half as one of their players was called for the unique PI rule of “running” for the 2nd time in a half. That lead to a penalty kick by Evan Bartlett. Focused on keeping it low, Bartlett let his power do the rest as he blasted it into the ol’ onion bag.

That was the extent of the Pirate scoring as MPLS South came out flying in the second half effectively ending the game by the 30 minute mark. Both teams used that opportunity to rest their starters and give some of the substitute players valuable playing time. South ended up winning the tournament later that afternoon.

Dakota United and one of the best goalkeepers in the state stood in the way of the Pirates and 3rd place hardware. Unfortunately for Dakota, emotions got the better of said goalkeeper in their semifinal match earning him a suspension for the final game of the season. Good news for Park Center, but there still was the issue of playing the game.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Pirates put Dakota to the sword over and over jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Two goals from Lopez, 1 from Pfeifer, and 1 from Caleb Plummer allowed the Park Center faithful to breathe a little easier.

The second half was a delight with the same 3 goal scorers each adding 1 more to their total. Every Pirate player was able to get in the game with the final minutes being a celebration of our Seniors: Lopez, Badou Sowe, Abhi Prasad, Brayden Smail, and Dylan Carter all taking the field.

The final whistle marked the end of a great season of tenacity and growth. This was a team that never gave up and sought to improve themselves in every practice and game. “Positivity and Tough Defense” is a great foundation and if they stick to it, there’s no reason to believe there won’t be more treasure on the horizon.

Special “Thank You” to all the family, fans, and boosters who elevated the Varsity sport experience to a level these players deserved. This is only the beginning.

11/16/2024

11/16/2024

And then it all comes together…

The Pirates finally got the Friday night win they have been seeking for over a year. One week and a day after losing a heartbreaker to the Robins, Park Center got their revenge on the biggest stage: the Minnesota PI Adapted Soccer State Tournament in White Bear Lake.

Coach Jonah Pridey developed a game plan based on stifling defense and tenacious offense, and Robbinsdale had no answers. The Pirates dominated play and with wave after wave of attack, finally broke their duck after 5 minutes. It was leading scorer Ben Pfeifer that took advantage of some pinball action in front of goal to put Park Center ahead. Caleb Plummer created his own luck with a shot on an indirect free kick that took a fortuitous deflection by the Robins keeper. Shortly before the half, they capitalized on some deft team passing from Bryan Lopez and Badou Sowe giving Pfeifer a tap in for his second on the night.

A wobble to begin the second half gave one back to Robbinsdale and while nerves crept into the Pirate lineup, they stuck to their game plan, weathered the Robin’s momentum, and steadily regained the upper hand leading to an excellent shot by Pfeifer to cap his hat trick.

If Robbinsdale’s reserve was depleted after that goal, it was surely put to bed after Evan Bartlett brought out the artillery with a cannon shot from his own half that threatened to break the net.
Full credit to Robbinsdale for continuing to push forward getting one more past the Pirates' stalwart defense, but by then the game was well decided. Bryan Lopez was rewarded for a solid game with a goal of his own as time expired.

The excellent team performance was made even more remarkable by the shuffling of personnel in the week leading up to State. Moving Lopez out from goal to take advantage of his size, speed, and stick-to-it-iveness. Adi Borade stepped into goal with a willingness to put his body in front of everything. Starting defenders Brayden Smail and John Huybrecht (along with Bartlett) were terrific keeping most of the heavy pressure off of Borade and starting many counterattacks.

They’ll need to keep the positivity and focus as they look to give #1 seed Minneapolis South an unpleasant morning in tomorrow’s semi-final at White Bear Lake Area High School.

11/15/2024

Off to State!!!

11/09/2024

The bracket is set and the Pirates are off to State!
It’s a chance for retribution right out of the gate as the Park Center Pirates face off against their old friends the Robins from Robbinsdale/Hopkins/Westonka/St. Louis Park on Friday, November 15th at 5:00 PM at White Bear Lake High School!
Resources:
Adapted Soccer PI: https://www.mshsl.org/sports-and-activities/adapted-soccer-pi
Program will be available here next week: www.mshsl.org/programs
Tickets can be purchased online here: www.mshsl.org/tickets
GoFan Resources- https://www.mshsl.org/gofan-resources-spectators
Map of White Bear Lake:https://www.mshsl.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/white-bear-lake-area-high-school-map.pdf
Apparel will be available next week here: https://mshsl.signatureconcepts.shop/
Teams will enter through Pass Gate at Door G which is off Bald Eagle Road (you should park in the parking lot near the football/soccer stadium)
Fans will enter through Athletic Entrance

11/02/2024

Last Thursday’s game against Anoka-Hennepin has been rescheduled to this Wednesday, November 6th at 4:30PM in Andover.
The Pirates will play again the next afternoon at home to Robbinsdale.
As always, go to pi.279adapted.com for up to date schedules and news.
Thanks.
Joel