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Zach Vlachos heads out of the net after a goal. Photo by Khoi Tan.
When Zach Vlachos was doing his due diligence last year in searching for the right college fit, his club soccer coach suggested doing a postgrad year. That initially fell on deaf ears, but Vlachos started looking into his coach’s suggestions, one of which was Putnam Science Academy.
And Vlachos’ mind went back to a game he played with his club in early 2020 against PSA in a showcase event.
“I remembered almost being in awe, like ‘Wow, these kids are in crazy shape,’” he said recently. “They were able to run all over the field. It was one of the hardest games I had ever played in. And I thought that if I can get like that, there’s no reason not to go there.”
Add in the fact that there weren’t a whole lot of roster spots open at college after the NCAA gave seniors an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic, and Vlachos’ decision to do a postgrad year, and do it at PSA became a much more lopsided one.
“I think the postgrad year became a real big option for a lot of seniors,” he said. “I know it was the right choice for me, and Putnam has been the right place for me to be.
“I’ve never been this fit during a season. I’ve never done conditioning the way we do here. I don’t like conditioning at all, and I don’t know anyone who does, but it’s good. The amount we do…and the ones where we have to wake up early and run, those are great. It’s hard work just to get out of bed in the morning. And then we get out and are doing sprints…it’s just crazy.”
Vlachos scored a pair of first-half goals Sept. 22 in helping the Mustangs to a chippy 3-0 win over St. Thomas More in their first official match of the season. PSA had played two preseason games and participated in a college showcase, with Vlachos tallying two goals over those games as well.
“He’s a true No. 9, a true striker,” said PSA coach Ryan Dunnigan. “He’s a good finisher in front of the net.”
That’s where both goals came from Wednesday, including one that he headed in off a cross just before a collision with the keeper and the other when he got a through ball from Kel Merckel and beat the keeper one-on-one.
Francisco Ororio scored his first goal in the second half on a ball that went off the keeper and had just enough to roll over the line at the far post.
“I thought we were more disciplined in the second half,” Dunnigan said. “We handled their directness pretty well. Adam (Azman), Carlos (de Silva), and Zeyd (Mrini) did a really good job when we went three in the back.
“A result is a result, which was good. We needed that. We needed a game where maybe we didn’t play up to our standard and we still got the three points. Any game when we’re able to get everyone on the pitch is a good game just for team morale and to keep them motivated going forward. Overall, I thought we played OK.”
As for Vlachos, Dunnigan loves his work ethic and fight. And like it does for so many, that will to win dates back to Vlachos’ younger days.
“As a kid, playing with my older brother, he was always better than me so I would always lose and he would rub it in,” Vlachos said. “I did not like that, so it’s just always been there.”
So too has his love of soccer.
“I started playing when I was 4 or 5 and I’ve loved it the entire time,” he said. “Even now that I’m older, if I’m not in class or doing schoolwork…it’s pretty safe to say I’m never not doing something soccer related. I’m watching highlights of games that happened, or games that are going on, I’m playing FIFA. I just love this game.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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