Boys' Varsity Soccer team put up a good fight all season, challenging themselves to grow as players and as a team. photo by TJ Yearbook
The boys’ soccer team has had a rocky start to the season.
Since the Thomas Jefferson boys’ soccer team kicked off their fall season in August, they have struggled to maintain positive morale. Their record currently stands at two wins and eight losses. Individually, each player brings unique talent and skill to the team, but they are focusing on building team relationships to improve performance.
The players have been struggling from the loss of last year’s seniors, and it is up to the remaining varsity players to get the team back on track. Josiah Quarcoo, a junior at Thomas Jefferson who plays nearly every position on the field, said, “it’s not our best season yet, but we are improving every game.” Head coach John Thompson explained, “we’ve started pretty slow, we did not come into the season prepared, and now we are trying to find our stride.” The team has attempted to use every loss to its advantage by practicing the skills they struggle with during games. Thompson also aims to make practice more game-like for the players, and expects their win-to-loss ratio to improve as the season progresses.
The team plays in different formations in each game, with every player performing different roles. Coach Thompson praised freshman Elmer Castellanos, and sophomores Dylan Hagerty, Jorge Olivas, and Sebastian Lipic as some of the younger athletes who have stepped up to fill the spots of their departed teammates. Several key players have also missed games due to injuries, and Thompson said they “were integral parts of our lineup, and missing them left big holes in our team.” One of their most significant setbacks of the season was losing team captain and junior Ben Hartley due to surgery for an out-of-season injury. He plays center back and center midfielder, and is considered one of the best on the field.
While the team starts each game off strong, coach Thompson has noticed that the team will sometimes put more effort into one half of the game than the other. However, he expects they will improve as the season goes on. “Results aren’t there right now, but results will come,” he said.
