This fall marked another successful season for the Michael Rooney-led Bishop Hendricken soccer team.

The Hawks lost just one game all season, trudging through their competitive Division I slate and emerging with an 8-1-5 record to earn the No. 2 seed for the playoffs.

Hendricken will begin its postseason run on Friday night when it hosts the winner of No. 10 Central and No. 7 Shea at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

And Hendricken certainly has a team that’s capable of making a run and winning it all in the coming weeks.

It already proved that it can compete with the only team seeded ahead of it, playing No. 1 La Salle to a 1-1 tie a few weeks ago. The only team that defeated Hendricken all season was North Kingstown, the No. 9 seed, and it has already been eliminated in preliminary play.

The Hawks have displayed depth up and down the field, as well.

Up front, they’ve gotten goals from multiple different sources. Lucas Gesmundo has paced Hendricken’s offensive attack with 10 goals and 15 points – both team-highs. Chukwuma Onyejose has also been a threat up front, posting eight goals and nine points. Chukwudi Onyejose has used his speed to score two goals and add three assists on the season, as well.

At the midfield position, Ewan Noble and Kevin Torrico have both stood out in a big way for the Hawks.

In addition to neutralizing opponents’ transition game, Noble has added seven points and Torrico has chipped in with three goals and five points. Matthew DeFraitas has posted three goals from the midfield position, too, emerging as an additional scoring threat.

At the back end, junior Andrew Pimental has stepped up after logging a great deal of minutes as a sophomore last fall. He and the rest of the defense have played extremely well in front of two-year starter Ryan Morel in net, who compiled 48 saves this year.

Hendricken undoubtedly has the talent to win it all, but it will have to play its best in the coming weeks with tough matchups approaching.

It defeated Central, 2-1, during the regular season and tied Shea, 1-1, so that quarterfinal game should be competitive no matter who advances.

If the Hawks were to win that quarterfinal matchup, a semifinal bout with No. 3 Portsmouth would be likely.

The Patriots recorded the same amount of points as Hendricken this season, but the Hawks earned the tiebreaker due to their 2-1 victory over the Patriots during the season.

On the other side of the bracket, La Salle and Barrington, the No. 4 seed, have to be the favorites to advance to the title game. The Eagles produced a great season, but fell to the fourth seed after losing points tiebreakers to Hendricken and Portsmouth.

The good thing for soccer fans this season is that there isn’t one particular team that has been dominant like La Salle was last season.

There are legitimately four teams, or even more, that could contend for a title this time around, and Hendricken is among them.

Pilgrim draws St. Ray’s in quarterfinals

The Pilgrim boys’ soccer team will open its playoff run on Saturday at 6 p.m. when it travels to Pawtucket’s Max Read Field to take on No. 4 seed St. Ray’s.

The Pats earned the No. 5 seed after a regular season in which they compiled 28 points with an 8-3-4 record.

The Pats have shown that they can compete with anyone within the division, handing top-seeded Davies its lone loss of the season, 1-0, at Bend Street at the beginning of the fall.

Like Hendricken in D-I, Pilgrim has what it takes to compete for a title in D-III.

Up front, the Pats have been paced by a pair of freshmen – Aaron Ramos and Danny Peixinho.

Ramos is 11th in the state with 16 points, also leading Pilgrim in goals with 10. Peixinho isn’t far behind with nine goals of his own. Collin Murphy and Evan O’Connor have also been steady contributors up front with eight and seven points, respectively.

The Pats have been strong at midfield, too, with Niall Blackadar standing out in particular.

However, where Pilgrim can differentiate itself from other teams is on defense.

Pilgrim will face the state’s leading scorer in the quarterfinals in the Saints’ Derek Delahoz (34 goals, 37 points). Not many teams, if any, could slow down Delahoz this fall, but Pilgrim’s depth at defense should give it a chance to limit the forward’s production on Saturday. Captains Matt Woods, Patrick Reilly and Ben Hunt, along with senior Chris Black, have combined to make a formidable back line for the Pats, and they’ll have to be particularly strong if Pilgrim hopes to defeat St. Ray’s this time around.

Pilgrim dropped its only meeting with St. Ray’s, 2-0, this season, but if it can get by the Saints, the Pats certainly have the ability to hold their own against teams like Davies and Burrillville further in the bracket.