Varsity:
Winter has arrived in Arizona, and along with the short days and chilly weather, winter sports have made a comeback.
No team is more excited to take to the field this year at OHS than boys soccer. With an already promising start to the season, the team is back and better than ever, ready to kick off another year of victories.
“We had a tournament to start the season off. It was the Barry Goldwater Tournament, and we won all five of those games,” said Connor Mattingly, senior.
Outside of goals scored and games won, the boys are passionate about sharing the field with their teammates, forming new bonds, and strengthening old ones.
“We’re really close this year,” said Braedan Judge, junior. “We’re competing, so I think it’s just brought us together. We’re brothers.”
This season marks the last time that many graduating players will take to the OHS field, and the team recognizes the impact this has on their desires for success.
“It’s my senior year, and a lot of the guys are seniors, so I think we just have a different passion this year to go as far as we can,” Mattingly said.
Along with the determination and enthusiasm that older members bring to the team, many have grown significantly in their time as an eagle, accumulating the wisdom and outlook of a veteran player.
“I’ve learned a lot from a bunch of different philosophies of soccer and different coaches,” said Ricky Ulloa, senior. “There’s always a different ideology of the game. There’s always different philosophies, [so] be open-minded.”
Furthermore, certain players have learned how to work through personal hardships that have challenged them throughout their season–or their entire journey at OHS.
“I got injured my freshman year and my sophomore year and my junior year, and I was injured a couple [of] weeks ago…but I try to just keep on going and have as much fun as I [can],” Mattingly said.
One of the most prominent aspects of this year’s team is their pre-game ritual that they use to set the tone for the entire match.
“The whole team, before every game, we spend fifteen minutes in silence just visualizing and meditating, getting our mind right,” Judge said.
All in all, it is clear that the OHS boys’ soccer team has grown tremendously this season–both in the quantity of victories and the quality of their bonds–and will continue to improve as the year progresses.
“Most of us are just hungry to win. When we lose, we hate it, so the next game we get a chance, we want to go out and attack and win,” Ulloa said.
JV:
The Junior Varsity boys soccer team is full of new faces and young players, eager to make their first mark on the high school field.
With only a short time to get to know each other, the players are already developing the relationships necessary to make a successful team.
“Even though I’ve barely known them for a little bit, it already feels like we’ve been playing for a long time,” said Cristian Diaz, freshman.
Many feel as though they are already learning the wisdom that comes with each win or loss, with each new day on the soccer field.
“I’ve learned that, if you lose, that you shouldn’t give up. You should keep going because anything is possible,” said Ethan Crabtree, freshman. “I try to tell everyone to keep their heads up and to not think too much about [losing].”
Despite the difficulties of a young team and a challenging season, the junior varsity players have seen their fair share of successes this year.
“We beat Shadow Ridge High School. It was a last-minute goal, and we were all very excited,” Diaz said.
At the end of the day, these players are constantly working to improve themselves and their team and are excited to continue their journey on the boys’ soccer team.
“We just need to work on being able to play together a little bit better because we’re all new to each other. Once we get that down, I think we’ll do much better next season,” said Diaz.
