2025 Team Celebrates Double At Banquet

With heartfelt speeches, plenty of laughs, and a ton of trophies and swag, the Staples boys soccer celebrated their state and FCIAC championships last night.

The team’s annual banquet — held for the first time at the Patterson Club — was a heartfelt affair.

Coaches praised the talent, dedication and passion of their varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams. Captains thanked their coaches, teammates and parents.

And of course, there were awards.

Staples athletics’ 2 top awards — the Block “S” awards — went to Drew Hill and Adriano Carpi.

Head coach Liam Witham cited Hill — a quad-captain — for his seldom-noticed, but relentlessly effective, work as a defensive midfielder, earning Most Valuable Player honors. Carpi received the Most Improved award, for his seamless transition from midfield to defense.

Hill — who called wearing #15 “the greatest honor” of his Staples career — passed the jersey along to Nico Reyna. The number belonged to Preston Hirten, the heart of the 2006 state finalist team, who died on the first day of preseason as a junior at the University of Mary Washington.

Witham also gave a Coaches’ Award to Emmett Zahler. The outside back was cited for his superb attitude and work ethic.

The junior varsity award went to Ciaran Kennedy, while Gus Reyna picked up the Stephen Martin Award for the freshmen.

QUICK KICKS: Recent honors include United Soccer Coaches All-New England (Josh Whitaker); Connecticut Soccer Coaches Association All-State (Gabe Duque, Josh Whitaker), and GameTime CT All-State (1st team, Dylan Shackelford; 2nd team, Josh Whitaker).