The 2015 soccer season is a campaign full of optimism, according to Head Coach James Smelley. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2012 season but Coach Smelley feels incredibly confident that the Broncos can reverse their luck with the talent and depth the team has this year.
“I’m extremely optimistic that we have a chance to have a very good squad, a good team, and a good season,” Coach Smelley said.
Last season the team ended with an overall record of six wins, nine losses, and five draws. Coach Smelley’s goal has always been to win a state championship but last year’s campaign was cut short after not reaching the playoffs.
“The players expectations are much higher this year, the only person that saw us in the playoffs last year was me, and they thought I was crazy,” Coach Smelley said. “This year everyone thinks we should be there.”
Producing a state championship team requires a simple approach to each game, according to Coach Smelley.
“We are just going to be looking one game at a time because that’s what you have to do,” Coach Smelley said. “It’s just keeping that daily focus and taking care of our business.”
Returning varsity starter Adrian Sanchez plays goalkeeper for the Broncos. Sanchez feels that if the whole team does what they are supposed to do, they’ll come out with a win.
“If the defense plays good, the forwards do their job, and I do my job,” Sanchez said. “Then the whole team wins.”
Junior midfielder Roberto Espinoza enjoys “megging” people, a skill move in which a player taps the soccer ball between other players’ legs.
“I want to get 12 megs on every right wing I go against,” Espinoza said. “When I’m by the sideline I want everyone to see when I meg the kid.”
The team has made some progress towards their goal with six wins and just one loss in the preseason, including placing second in the prestigious Everman Tournament. Varsity captain Blaine Moore hopes that the team will at least make playoffs, a feat the current group of seniors has never accomplished.
“I don’t want to be that first team that doesn’t go to playoffs,” Moore said. “Because it hasn’t been done in four years, we would be like coach said, starting a legacy.”
