Lafferty Rejects Rebuilding Label As CM Boys Soccer Anticipates Coming Seasons
A young CM team will have many returners and expects better to come.
BETHALTO – The Civic Memorial High School boys soccer program is now three years removed from its most successful season ever, a 24-5 campaign that saw the Eagles win their second straight IHSA Class 2A regional title under then head coach Derek Jarman.
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Jarman coached CM for nine seasons, the final five seasons posting winning records and three regional titles to boot.
That 24-5 season came in 2022, a loaded team that had 14 seniors on it, including the school’s all-time leading goal scorer, Bryce Davis. A season later in 2023, after losing most of its starting lineup, the Eagles still managed a 14-9 record in Jarman’s final season.
Now the program is in the hands of Tyler Lafferty, a former high school player at CM and later East Alton-Wood River, and collegiately at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) and Western Illinois University (WIU).
After his second season with the team came to an end, in the IHSA Class 2A Troy (Triad) Regional semifinals, he’s confident his Eagles are headed in the right direction.
“I never want to say, ‘Oh, this is a rebuilding year.’ We want to compete every single year,” he said.”
2025 could be viewed as a much-needed, literal growth year for CM.
“We’ve had players step up, but when you have a sophomore going up against a senior, it kind of becomes a size thing. Our boys will get their turn,” Lafferty said.
“I think that was the biggest [thing]. We weren’t necessarily dominant in the air. We struggled at defending corners and long throws; that was kind of our kryptonite. So, if the boys did nothing all year long, they’ll be better than they were this year, solely because they’ll be bigger.”
The Eagles went 11-16 last season under Lafferty. After a 3-1 overtime defeat to the Highland Bulldogs, CM finished this season 4-18-1.
CM led Tuesday’s regional semifinal, but would allow three unanswered goals, two of which came in the first 10-minute overtime period.
“We got the one goal up. We could have easily packed it in and been content with that goal, but my boys wanted to play and go basically man-to-man with them and see what we could do,” Lafferty said after Tuesday’s game. “Some calls didn’t go our way, but we had our chances.”
CM had previously lost to Highland 8-0 not even 20 days ago, a game that started a six-game losing streak to end the season.
“We switched up things, put people in different positions, but at the end of the day, I mean, that’s all you can ask for as a coach, that everyone plays and leaves it all out there. And I think my boys left it all out there,” Lafferty said.
A significant issue for the Eagles currently is their goal-scoring ability. They were shut out 16 times this season. The scoring woes come after losing leading goal scorers Tyler Wilson (32 goals, 15 assists) and Nathan Taylor (25 goals, 25 assists).
It led to a more defensive shape for this season, one that kept many games low scoring.
“We’re a more defensive team than we are offensive, that’s where we kind of struggled,” Lafferty said. “Luckily, we have a strong sophomore class; I think 12 of them are coming back. A lot of them play club, so I think we have a bright future.”
“We bring back a few key juniors next year. So, it sucks seeing our seniors leave, but we’re definitely young. We’ll be back and be hungry.”
CM says goodbye to six seniors: starting goalkeeper Brendyn Cox, Ty Books, Trevin Depping, AJ Garrett, Mason Bryant, and Chase Cameron.
But the team will bring back 10 freshmen and 11 sophomores who will be ready to go in 2026.
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