By Isabela Llevat ’20
The boys’ soccer season has been an overall success. The program is split into four teams: varsity, junior varsity, the eighth grade and the seventh grade team.
Head of the boys’ soccer program Kris Ward reflected on the season and his favorite part of being part of the team.
“The best part of the team dynamic is to watch the level of conversation between our players. We finished a game, and players were talking about welfare states in other countries and how they have changed over the last decade. That is something awesome about our players,” Ward said.
Ward also explained some of the goals he set for the season.
“Goals for the season were to install a new culture and new expectations for the soccer program. To make playoffs. To make the school proud of the program,” Ward said.
The varsity squad tied all of its games against Loyola. The squad won against many teams, including St. Francis and Alemany. The squad finished the season with an overall record of 11-9-4 and a league record of 5-4-3, which qualified it for playoffs, losing to Redondo Union in the first round.
“I think we have a pretty high team chemistry and work really well together like passing the ball. And, we all like each other, I think, and we like messing around with each other off the field, but when it is on the field, we get down to business. We are all pretty tight. I think we are a pretty strong team in general,” striker Henry Sanderson ’20 said.
The JV squad finished the season with an overall record of 4-7-3 and a league record of 4-5-2. The team struggled against Loyola; losing all of their games against them but had wins against Notre Dame and St. Francis. Of course, the squad has a variety of people from different age groups. However, the JV team rallied together and played well on the field.
“Well, there are definitely more kids from the Upper School on the team than the Middle School, so it is definitely weird at first, but I think everyone gets along pretty well,” goaltender Hudson Blatteis ’20 said.
Middle school soccer is split between seventh and eighth grade. The eighth grade team finished the season with an overall record of 3-3-1 and a league record of 2-1-1. As a whole, the middle school struggled to win against Brentwood and Paul Revere but gained victories over Chaminade and Crossroads this season.
“We have a really good midfield, I would say, and they are good at getting the ball to our forwards. [Our weaknesses are] probably long shots,” defenseman Jake Grisman ’21 said.
Seventh grade soccer closed their season with an overall record of 4-2 and a 2-2 league record. The team suffered defeats against Brentwood and Village Christian and won against Chaminade and Campbell Hall.
“I like the coach and the teammates. Everyone is friendly and we want to win,” midfield Alex Shane ’22 said.
