By: Brian Avery
Right after we posted our last Issue, the Men’s soccer team played their first scrimmage against Sam Houston High School on December 9th, 2022 at home. The JV lost 3-6 and the Varsity won 4-0. The following week, the Varsity team played in their alumni scrimmage, winning 3-0. They broke for the Christmas break, and came back in 2023. On January 3rd, both teams played against Beeville at home, with JV winning 2-1, and Varsity tying 1-1. Two days later, the varsity team traveled to Ingleside for a tournament which lasted from the 5th to the 7th. They placed 3rd, having a tournament record of 2-1. On the 10th, both teams traveled to the Veterans Memorial Stadium in San Antonio where they played Memorial High School. The JV team lost 1-3, and the Varsity team tied 3-3. Later that week, the Varsity team started their home tournament which lasted three days. They played on the first day to start off the Tournament, and again later that day. They won their first game, lost their second and their third unfortunately, not placing in the top three. Both teams played Fox Tech on the 17th, with JV winning 1-0, and Varsity tying 1-1. Both teams played Eagle Pass on the 20th, with JV and Varsity both losing 1-3. Finally, on the 24th, both teams played JFK, and JV won 3-1, but Varsity tied 2-2.
We got the opportunity to interview 4 people for this article. We spoke to Head and Varsity Coach Breiten, JV Coach Pacheco, JV member Isiah Cruz, and Varsity Captain Sergio Banda.
Coach Breiten, who has been coaching for 10 years, originally had no interest in soccer. However, when he started as an assistant coach for Soccer, he fell in love with the sport and stuck with it, valuing the physicality and the teamwork needed for the sport. He noted that the varsity team had good chemistry and played great defense, but said that Varsity struggled to score. He felt good coming into district season, saying “We’re going to grow a lot in the next few weeks, and then we’re going to prosper.” He mentioned that he wants to see personal growth on and off the field before the season concluded.
Coach Pacheco, who started his first year coaching high school out of 7 years coaching, fell in love with soccer at a young age, valuing the control players have in the game. He loves the effort and the heart that the JV brings, but they lack much communication, trying to prove themselves for Varsity. “I think we’re doing good, as far as communicating. The goals will come in time, and I feel like we can do more as the season progresses and everyone falls into their roles.” He had high hopes for the rest of the season, saying they’re at a pivotal point. “Once we get the monkey off our back, the sky’s the limit.” Isaiah Cruz is new to the high school program, and he feels confident in his passing and teamwork abilities. However, he feels like he needs to work on his shooting and moving the ball up the field. Issiah believes that the JV’s defense is their strongsuit, and similar to Coach Pacheco, he believes they need to work on their communication, wanting it to be improved on more than anything. When asked about his motivation to keep going, he stated, “My love for this team and my school spirit, my Eagle Pride.”
Sergio Banda is one of the three captains on the Varsity team, along with Timothy Klein and Stefon Torres. He is a senior, looking forward to his last year in the high school program. Sergio’s strong suit is giving it his all, working hard to improve every day in every way, but struggles to get everything done before it needs to be done. He saw the Varsity’s strength as “working hard together, pushing each other to our limits, and each day we try to exceed our expectations, but some struggle with matching the effort others give.” He wished that the team would improve their overall mentality, stating it is the reason why he manages to keep going when things aren’t going the way he’s hoped.
Good luck on the rest of your season boys! We believe in you!