Kaden Houle barely registered Belchertown coach Zach Siano’s words in a midfield hug.
“You’re a hero.”
Adrenaline still surged in his veins after scoring an overtime winner against Hampshire Regional in the Western Massachusetts Class B boys soccer semifinals. Houle pushed up from the center back position he played all season to his customary forward territory and buried a winner with a 101.6 degree fever.
“He was an absolute hero that day. That was his Jordan flu game. That was him going out there putting that team on his back,” Siano said. “If he’s not out there, I don’t think there’s any doubt we lose that game. It was tight enough as it is.”
Houle absorbed the words slowly. They meant volumes coming from his longtime coach in a season where he’d given up a lot and lost even more.
“It was me doing what I love best, going out there playing soccer and doing my best for my team and trying to get the result for my team,” Houle said.
Belchertown’s senior all-state center back typifies the best qualities of an Orioles program that stands among Western Massachusetts’ best. He played most of his soccer life at forward, scoring goals, eliciting cheers and appearing in postgame box scores.
But Belchertown needed a center back to stop the other team. The Orioles didn’t expect to after last season with Zachary Fraleigh patrolling their back line.
“He was going to be our leading center back,” Houle said. “He was an animal back there.”
Fraleigh died in a car crash in May, leaving a void in more than Belchertown’s lineup card. But as the season approached, Siano and the Orioles confronted the reality of filling the position.
Siano asked Houle to try out center back over the summer.
“I wanted to not have to sell it to him. I wanted him to come to this realization on his own. He totally got it, never questioned it, seems to really enjoy himself back there,” said Siano, the Massachusetts High School Soccer Coaches Association small school boys coach of the year. “We are always about program over personnel, and Kaden is the embodiment of that.”
Houle assumed the role full-time in Belchertown’s fourth game of the season against Longmeadow. A ball hit one of the Orioles other options at center back in the head, and he left the game feeling dizzy. Siano turned to Houle and said, “guess it’s your time to shine.”
He fit perfectly next to Nate Oldenberg, one of Western Mass’ stoutest defenders that always plays in perfect position. His foundation allowed Houle to utilize his athleticism and skill to halt attackers in their tracks all over the field.
“It’s a thankless job. For him to go back there and sacrifice a lot on his end, I’m sure it was a bit of an ego blow,” Siano said. “I never saw him waver once in that. He never asked me once to not do it.”
Becoming a center back taught Houle patience. His forward brain regularly told him, “Go! Drive to the net! Do it! Faster!” He needed to slow down and react rather than push, adjust to long balls, play with his head more, both in terms of directing balls away and viewing the game a pass or two ahead.
“You see the play of the game a lot different than as if you are a forward. You see every pass that’s wide open. You see gaps going forward. You can see more of the field,” Houle said.
His time up top eased that transition. Houle knew how he would attack situations, which told him how to stymie the opposition.
“I could read the forwards minds a little bit easier,” he said.
He still found ways to score, though. The striker was still in there. Houle put away three goals with three assists, occasionally pushing forward in a break glass emergency when Belchertown needed a goal.
Whatever the Orioles needed.
As Belchertown’s only captain, Houle acknowledged his responsibility to the program above his own stat line. He also knew who’s spot he occupied.
“It was definitely difficult coming into that spot. This is his spot. This is what (Fraleigh) played,” Houle said. “I felt like the whole time I don’t want to disappoint anybody. I wasn’t going out there and not giving this my all. I know if he was out there, if he was playing that position, he would give it his all. He would want to win for the team. He would put anything on the line.”
That’s why he didn’t flinch when his thermometer read nearly 102 degrees before the Western Mass semifinals. Even though he probably wasn’t supposed to play, Houle put his team and the chance at another Western Mass title above himself.
“It sends a message about our program when our captain is willing to make that step and fill in for the greater good of the team,” Belchertown senior Jack Holt said. “It’s another reason why he’s such a great captain.”
Houle’s goal sent Belchertown to its fifth straight sectional final. The Orioles shut out South Hadley to win their fourth straight title and reached the Division 3 state semifinals.
“We had so much motivation for this season. Losing (Fraleigh), we were so motivated. We wanted to do so much for him. We wanted to make him proud,” Houle said. “We all had a little, we called it the Fraleigh magic. We all had a little in us. It kept us going.”