After a varied season, both the Paly boys varsity and frosh-soph soccer team are working to improve their gameplay and earn more victories.
In their most recent game against Los Altos High School, the varsity team lost 1-3. The team’s overall record now stands at 1-3-3.
Throughout the first half of the season, multiple player injuries impeded their ability to perform optimally, which led to a conference record of 1-2.
“One of our center backs two games in a row, really amazing player, got a really bad leg in his hamstring, and this was with ten minutes left, and everyone started panicking,” senior goalkeeper and captain Jackson Druker said.
Unfortunately, the team has had many close games. According to Druker, a difficulty for the team is building camaraderie. Despite this, he remains optimistic for the rest of the season.
“The issue with our team really isn’t the individual skill level of players,” Druker said. “We have a lot of individually skilled and athletic players who are really great soccer players. The team chemistry is just really lacking.”
In general, the team’s games have been close calls, many of which have resulted in ties.
“We’ve had so many close games,” Druker said. “Right now, we’re just focusing on staying in the A-league and not getting relegated.”
The team hopes that with effort and team building, they can eventually begin winning their games.
“When we do practice, we’re focusing on getting more fit and honing our skills, but because we’ve been having issues getting along, it’s been hard to get together outside of practice, and just ‘bro-out,’” Druker said.
As for the junior varsity team, they are optimistic to continue and improve during their season.
“Frosh-soph team is playing well, we’re in the middle of a league, and we have a couple of good wins against quality opponents,” frosh-soph coach Jack Bungarden said.
With an overall record of 3-0 and a conference record of 1-0, the junior varsity team hopes to continue their winning streak into the end of the season.
“The kids play well, they pass well, they work well, they cooperate with each other,” Bungarden said.
With several wins under their belt, the frosh-soph team has high hopes. Sophomore center-back Sebastian Bonard hopes to finish strong.
“The season’s going really, well, all of the players are chipping in,” Bonard said. “We have a lot of freshmen, a lot of new players this year, and all making an impact, we’re excited to finish this season strong.”
