By STEPHANIE GARCIA
A parade of jerseys rush toward the field. With the piercing sound of a whistle, the athletes align to their starting positions. The match kicks off.
“The teams’ energy is high. We are hungry, so to speak. We come to games ready to win. Our goal is to go all the way and win a state title,” freshman Elijah Matthews said.
With a record of 7-1-1, the introduction of the season gives way for a new coaching staff, head coach Bobby Hurring and assistant coach Trent Frederick. With over 10 years experience in training teams, Hurring and Frederick were the former coaches for Bishop Moore and led the varsity girls towards winning a state title in 2007.
“[Hurring] is more experienced than some of the coaches we’ve had. He will make a good addition to our program,” senior Yousef Hassan said.
Under the new coaching style, the team is instituting an increased amount of drills and extensive exercises. To prepare for game day, practices focus on recreating game-like situations. On the field, the phrase “keep the ball out of pressure” is constantly said among team members.
“The term refers to a possession style of playing. We don’t want the ball on the same side as the defense. We want to switch the field from time to time and play more one-on-one,” Frederick said.
For competitive games like metros and districts, the coaches are preparing through intensive practices and by alternating players during matches to add depth to the team. For Frederick, communication is an area that needs improvement.
“We need to work on communication and playing more as a team. We have sprints of 20 minutes at a time where we play as one, but we need to improve on playing together throughout an entire game,” Frederick said.
In the Cypress Creek game on Dec. 7, the boys won, 3-0, with goals from juniors Juan Caceres and Jonathan Craig. The boys won again on Dec. 5 and Dec. 2 against East River (5-0) and Colonial (5-3). However, on Nov. 30, the boys suffered their first defeat of the season against Lake Nona, 2-1.
To Matthews, the most challenging game was Ocoee on Nov. 16. Since the rival team’s key players were successful during club season, the team viewed Ocoee as a tough competitor. With goals from Caceres, senior Leo Montaiuti, and sophomore Jerry Alvarado, the boys won 3-0.
In the game against St. Cloud on Nov. 11, the boys won 8-2. Dominating within the first quarter, the team scored 5-1, with goals from Caceres, Montaiuti and senior Samuel Torres. Senior Gian Bertola made four assists during the game, nearly breaking the school record of assists.
“We have played better than I expected. We have only been a team for a couple of weeks, but it feels like we’ve been playing for years,” Hassan said.
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