Evans Djohan a Boost to Both Sides of the Soccer Field

Around the fifth grade, Holliston’s Evans Djohan happened across soccer during recess, and from that point on, it’s been something that he has enjoyed on a regular basis. Now, as a senior captain for the high school team, Djohan is looking to end his final campaign on a high note.
The Panthers went an impressive 12-1-3 last fall and in doing so were awarded a three seed in the State Tournament. After dispatching their four opponents, Holliston was able to raise the Division 3 South Championship trophy. Unfortunately, the Panthers lost in the first round of the State Tournament to the eventual champion Wayland.
Although a member of the Holliston varsity team as a freshman, Djohan didn’t see the field until his sophomore campaign as a center defensive midfielder, a position he truly loves.
“As a center defensive midfielder, you have to be skilled as well as smart. You’re always involved in the play, and I love that defensive aspect of it,” he said. “You need to coordinate as well as communicate with the rest of the team if you want to be successful.”
As a center defensive midfielder, Djohan is expected to be able to scan the entire field in front of him, so he knows what is going on and then make the changes necessary to be able to defend or move the ball ahead.
Holliston Coach Jay Dupuis likes the way his center midfielder plays the game on both ends of the field.
“Evans is a tremendous athlete and does a great job helping to generate our attack,” the Panther Coach said. “He is a true two-way player, but we primarily asked him to be defensive minded and do everything else but score.”
Dupuis credits his senior captain with being an important cog in the wheel last fall.
“He was one of the biggest reasons that we were so successful last year in winning the Tri-Valley League and Division 3 South Championships,” Dupuis said.
Having played the way he did, Djohan was awarded his first Tri-Valley league All Star nod, something he is still unsure of why.
“I was happy being named a TVL All Star, but I’m really not sure why they selected me,” he said. “Usually, All Stars are those athletes that score a lot and generate goals and assists from their team. Scoring is not my specialty. I just wasn’t that player, and it was only my first year dominating on the defensive side of the field.”
While the Holliston native had been playing soccer for some time, it was two years ago when he decided to join a club soccer team out of Boston. Once he began playing club soccer, he realized that he actually had a lot of talent and could play the center midfielder position better than just about anyone.
“I was already an aggressive player on the field, but playing club soccer helped me so much,” he said. “I feel I’m playing so well that I can continue this in college. I have already talked to a few schools, but right now I just want to concentrate on the high school season.”
Last fall, Coach Dupuis found his team to be quite talented, especially on the offensive side of the field. Although the squad did graduate a lot of those individual and the team has had the younger athletes step up and fill in some of those holes, he is going to need his center midfielder to step up his offensive game this fall.
“This year I’m looking at him to do everything and then some,” the Coach said. “His main responsibility will once again be to help generate our offensive attack while stopping the opposition from getting into our zone. I will also be asking him to score a little more this year.”
Djohan realizes that he needs to take his game to the next plateau, especially if he wants to play soccer on the collegiate level.
“The coach wants me to move up this year and get a little more involved in the offense,” he said. “I will, but I can only go so far without putting myself in jeopardy defensively. Scoring will be hard, but I do believe that I should have more assists.”
The senior captain would like to be more disciplined in the middle, preventing the opposing attackers to get shots off on his goalie as well as getting the team to stay focused. If the Panthers can go out and play their game while focusing on what they need to do, they should be alright and able to not only win back-to-back Divisional Titles, but compete for that State Championship as well.