Growing up playing in the PYSA, Ethan Goulet is now with his old teammates in a Petoskey uniform and helping the Northmen to late-season success.
PETOSKEY — The importance of being around peers with the same kind of mindset and drive can’t be understated.
When it comes to soccer, Ethan Goulet never had that in Cheboygan.
A year ago, he was in a Chiefs uniform, struggling through a 0-15 season in which 11 games were lost by the mercy rule.
Now, his colors have changed to Northmen blue and white and the mood on the field has changed with it in a competitive league like the Big North Conference and teammates with the same love of the game.
“They didn’t have the same mentality about soccer as people in Petoskey have, so I came here to maybe get a better opportunity to go to the next level,” Goulet said. “I played for the travel team over here, so I knew a lot of guys here and it was a comfortable move.”
Apart from knowing PHS players through travel ball, Goulet grew up playing in the Petoskey Youth Soccer Association, so many of his now teammates he’s known since he first began in the sport.
“I think since I was eight, so I knew pretty much everyone expect for the freshmen,” he said.
While Petoskey sits at 6-6 on the season, they’ve won six of their last eight and four straight games since Big North Conference play began, including an 8-0 final over Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Goulet scored three goals against the Blue Devils, including a beautiful header served in off a corner kick from teammate Ashton Attie.
Though there’s not always a lot to take away from an 8-0 final, even on the winning side, it was still used as a game to get better for Petoskey.
“I think it’s a game that helps us experiment with new things,” Goulet said. “We started a lot in the attacking third, it’s a new way to see what we like to do, how to break the line and get a lot of shots on the keeper.”
Five other players scored against the Blue Devils, including San Nemec, Chris Keiswetter, Mason McLintock, Aarav Gandhi and Tyce Melvin.
While Goulet is one of seven seniors on the Northmen roster, there’s also 11 underclassmen and six sophomores in that group, so getting off to an 0-4 start to the season wasn’t all that much of a surprise.
It was always going to take some time to mesh. Goulet himself was new to playing at the high school level with everyone.
“You can see that in the record,” Goulet said. “We’ve come back and beat some teams that we lost to earlier in the season and the scores might say it was close, but I’ve felt we’ve been a lot better.”
Along with learning how to play with each other, there’s also been more of a willingness to take coaching, a big part of growing as a team.
“I think we have made a lot of progress as a team,” Goulet added. “In practice we’re all trying our hardest, we’re all watching film. We’re all taking advice and moving forward with it, rather than shutting down and being like, ‘I think I’m good, he can’t tell me I need to fix something.’ We’ve put our ego behind us and understood as a team that’s the best way to move forward.”
With just four regular season games remaining and a district that includes all familiar foes, many of which Petoskey owns wins over, a district title is still well in sight for the Northmen.
Goulet is just happy to be surrounded by athletes who love the game as much as he does and want to succeed.
It’s a big reason why you’ll see him celebrating teammates’ goals as much as his own and coaching along the sidelines, even in blowout wins.
“I wouldn’t be able to have those three goals if my teammates weren’t passing to me,” he said. “There’s just a higher level of knowledge of the game here and guys are trying to do the right thing and I’m trying to do the right things. I think it’s giving us positive moments to celebrate.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey soccer finding late success, helped by senior Ethan Goulet
Category: General Sports
