Sussex Academy boys’ soccer team receives state championship rings
On the day of winter’s final stand, it was fitting that Sussex Academy’s state championship-winning boys’ soccer team received some ice for their brilliant run.
Going 17-2 overall and winning the Henlopen South, Henlopen Conference and DIAA Division II state title for the first time in the program’s history, Seahawks players were presented with their championship rings during halftime of the girls’ season opener against Cape.
Their path to all three was dramatic. They came from behind to beat Indian River in-season en route to the division title, clinched the conference in penalty kicks over Sussex Central, came from behind again to eliminate IR in the semifinals, and came from behind to win in penalty kicks for the title game over Saint Mark’s.
Ethan Couch said it was a good feeling to put the ring on.
“It felt like a closing to the final chapter of my high school career,” Couch said. “I knew it was going to happen since I was in sixth grade.”
The senior said the ring itself is rather heavy.
Aaron Mushrush joined the sports team in Summer 2023 to help cover the emerging youth athletics scene in the Cape Region. After lettering in soccer and lacrosse at Sussex Tech, he played lacrosse at Division III Eastern University in St. David's, PA. Aaron coached lacrosse at Sussex Tech in 2009 and 2011. Post-collegiately, Mush played in the Eastern Shore Summer Lacrosse League for Blue Bird Tavern and Saltwater Lacrosse. He competed in several tournaments for the Shamrocks Lacrosse Club, which blossomed into the Maryland Lacrosse League (MDLL). Aaron interned at the Coastal Point before becoming assistant director at WMDT-TV 47 ABC in 2017 and eventually assignment editor in 2018.
