Sprinting down the field, he swiftly moves the ball with strategy in order to dodge his opponents. As he nears the goal, he precisely places his foot on the ball as he prepares to shoot for the goal. He shoots and scores. The crowd cheers in excitement as he runs towards his team in celebration.

The varsity boy’s soccer team is currently in their second round of the district season. The first round of district play ended with a 3-2-2 record and they began the second round with a win against Liberty Hill. 

“Our strength is based on disrupting the other team’s tactics and causing chaos all over the field, turning the game into a very hectic game thus simply allowing us just to purely outwork our opponents,” senior and captain Noah Jacobson said. “Our team’s mentality sets us apart because no matter what happens we are gonna fight and we are gonna make the games close. Playing against us is never gonna be easy and it mentally wears out opponents and they get tired of us.”

According to junior Youngjune Kim, in practice, the team does minute-long drills in order to increase their stamina. During practice, they also work on passing patterns for games and work on developing their skills by scrimmaging. If they are practicing after a game the team does a light lift in the weight room or works on game situational drills. While additionally focusing on what they could do better for their next game.

“I think our work rate separates us from other teams,” senior and captain Antonio DeLaRosa said.  “This is easily one of the hardest working teams I’ve ever been a part of, and not a lot of teams can keep up with our intensity. My role is to keep everything organized and to not let the team’s mood go down. I try to motivate the team by working hard and they motivate me by doing the same. Because we’re all very close-knit I’m always motivated to give my best for the team. We all play for each other and try and win for each other.

In one of their preseason games, senior Zeb Weiland scored a rare bicycle kick goal against Georgetown. The kick was featured on CBS Austin’s Sunday Sports News. Although they didn’t close out the game with a win, the team lost the close match against Georgetown with a score of 2-3, with one of the goals being the uncommon kick. 

“I was 50 yards away, so I was farther back,” Jacobson said. “But my thought process when he went to do it, I was thinking there was no way he’s going to do it. Then he did it. After, all of us were surprised and went over to congratulate him.”

The team focuses on positivity and encouragement in order even when a player makes a mistake, according to Jacobson. While at the same time, they critique each other when someone makes a mistake so they can fix it for the next time. Their team is specifically committed to keeping their communication high on the field which allows the team dynamic to run smoothly.

“In soccer, there are 11 people on the field, because of that, not one person can win the game,” Jacobson said. “Soccer is about 11 players coming together to produce greatness through scoring goals and preventing the other team from scoring. Supporting my teammates through leadership and defending are building blocks into helping the team be the best it can. Because of that, I give it my all in every game because I don’t want to let my teammates or the program down and I believe everyone on the team feels that way.”