Photo by Sasha Mesropov
The soccer boys look to avenge their loss last year in this season’s game against East.
The Thomas Jefferson boys’ soccer team is ready to take on their rivals, Denver East Angels. With a 4-0 loss last year, the boys are seeking revenge. The Spartans will take on the Angels today at TJ at 4:00 p.m.
Senior and team captain Adis Rogonich believes that in order to do well against East they have to “execute more, stay focused, and play a lot harder.” Last year’s game against East was a rough and tough fought out game with a couple of altercations that weren’t favorable for either side. Coach Jon Poole explained, “In order to clean up the act the boys will have to show their character and tenacity, no matter what goes down on the field.”
As each game gives a valuable lesson, Poole described that last year the soccer team learned to “play all 80 minutes fearlessly.” He hopes that from this year’s game they take away pride. We always focus on how we played, never if we won or lost,” stated Poole. Satisfied with how the boys played last year, Poole isn’t planning on making any major changes for the upcoming game. “Last year we were unlucky. This year we won’t be,” projected Poole.
Luckily TJ will have home turf for this important rematch. Rogonich stated, “we’re more comfortable that it’s a home game, because we will be in front of our own fans, TJ fans and on our home field; we play here everyday so it should be a very good game.” With a rather young team, a lot of the players have not experienced the rivalry between East and TJ; however, Poole believes that the team will be ready for anything that comes their way.
Slowly getting into the groove, the TJ boys are currently 2-4-1. “We got this, this year, and this is our year,” Rogonich confidently expressed.
