![The teams prepare to start another play with just a few minutes left in the first half. The Lions were in the lead at halftime with a score of 27-0. At half time, the team went back to the locker rooms. “[We ate] orange slices,” Malos said. “[Then] our team came out and got the win.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IMG_2385-1200x800.jpg)
![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
Rebuilding season
Our boys soccer team posing for a group picture after they shutout Cleveland 3-0.
Last year, the boys varsity soccer team went 13-1-1 and reached the 6A State Championship, but came in second to Bend’s team, Summit Storm. After last year’s winning streak, the boys lost 19 seniors. Over half of those players were starters and were crucial to the boys success as a team. During tryouts in Aug., coach Steve Ancheta, had to start thinking critically. When the tryout week was over, he revealed that he had decided to add six freshmen to the varsity team. Usually, it is rare to add freshman to varsity right away. Putting them on JV is the norm.
With the amount of seniors on the varsity team last year, it was hard for anybody to make the team last season, but especially incoming juniors hoping to make the team. Nick Owens, senior, plays goalie and was put onto JV last year because the team already had enough goalkeepers. This year though, he is using his soccer experience to lead a majority underclassmen team.
“Having to step up and trust them is a big part,” Owens said. “They didn’t have to go through JV or JV2, they came straight to varsity so showing them how to be prepared and to play against kids who will most likely be bigger than them is a struggle that we’ll have to focus on throughout the season.”
Ancheta didn’t add six freshmen to the team for no reason.
“His purpose is to try and rebuild,” Owens said. “He knew what he was losing last year and wants to build for the years ahead to make sure the team will grow and hopefully accomplish the same things that the team last year did.”
Though this team has had a rough start to their season, they are eager to improve.
“The team already has a great atmosphere which will really help us down line while looking to improve,” Owens said. Right now, the squad is 2-4-1.
The team’s upperclassmen are hopeful that they can make a switch, improve as a team, and lean their record in the other direction. Like Owens said, Ancheta is hopeful to see the team grow and accomplish big things in just four short seasons.
“We are hoping to make the playoffs,” Owens said. “We heard people don’t think we’re going to make them this year with an almost completely new team. We want to show them they’re wrong.”
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