By Lana Hy

Staff Writer

On Dec. 6 at 3:15 p.m., the Gabrielino High School boys varsity soccer team will play an away game against Temple City High School. This will the team’s third game of the season, and it serves as a component that will determine how much they have improved from last year.    

Yesterday, the Eagles played a home game against Azusa High School. Scores were unavailable at press time.           

Last season, the boys ended with an overall record of 4-16. Despite experiencing two ties and 16 losses, the team hopes to improve communication skills and build connectivity on the field this year.

 “Each of us were always focused on scoring individually, and we did not really work together as a team,” said Captain Edgar Mercado, senior.

On Tuesday, the Eagles were up against South Pasadena High School at SPHS and won, 1-0.

On Nov. 15, GHS competed against Muir High School (MHS) at the Eagles Stadium in their second preseason game. In the last season, the boys lost their first game to MHS, 0-4. However, the Eagles made a comeback this year by maintaining a positive attitude and beat MHS 3-0.

“We were consistently communicating with each other on and off the field,” stated sophomore Willtur Cho. “We also incorporated what we practice into our game, so I think that is what led up to our win.”

In the past, setbacks that led to losses were having a majority of inexperienced varsity players as well as players getting tired in the second half which resulted in an insufficient amount of energy to score goals. In addition, they were not able to accomplish a sense of brotherhood; however, the boys worked on team bonding this year which contributed to their win.

Captain Carlos Lopez, junior, scored the first goal of the game in the first half and earned another point for GHS with a kick that rolled into the corner of the net in the second half. Following Lopez’s goals, Mercado gained the third point for the Eagles towards the end of the game. Due to the boys’ secure defense, Muir was unable to score any points.

“Winning this game against Muir [who is known] to have a really good soccer team shows how good [our team] has gotten and proves that we can accomplish a lot this season,” stated Lopez.

On Nov. 13, the boys faced off against Northview High School at the Eagles Stadium in their first scrimmage and secured a win, 1-0.

With the Eagles’ success early on in the season, the team hopes to continue working hard in hopes of making CIF.

“We have more experienced players this year that put in lots of commitment to try to improve our overall record from last season,” said Coach Miguel Garcia. “I think this is going to be our season.”