The 2024-25 boys varsity soccer team has been struggling this season with a 1-7 record, placing seventh out of eight teams in the league. Players explained the cause for this and what they hope for the team in the future. 

In an interview with junior Pietro Tessari who plays center back and is one of three captains on the team, he explained, “I think our team is really young and not a lot of people have enough experience, and it’s showing in games we should win or at least tie.” Something that needs improving on is, “Creating better chances to score more goals because we aren’t doing that right now.” Having been on varsity for two years, the difference between this year and previous ones is, “Everyone is new to varsity, so it’s a lot of learning unlike last year, as most already had the needed experience.”

Junior goalkeeper Sammy Ceballos says something he wants to improve on for his senior year is “better team chemistry so passing and scoring becomes easier.” With this being his third year on varsity, Ceballos is one of the most experienced players on the team. He also said, “we are currently working hard because we kept losing. And this year we have a lot of young kids including freshmen and sophomores, so we are training them to prepare for next year.”

Freshman Ivan Jilote and Luis Santana share their experience so far and what they hope for the future. Santana said, “We don’t expect much besides keep working hard and trusting our teammates until the end of the season.” According to Santana, something to take from their first season of high school to apply to their sophomore year is “getting used to the pace of how the game is played.”  Soccer is a team sport, so the more you play with a teammate the better the chemistry, and this year is “more of an experiment for the next, hopefully making the next couple of years better and better.”

This year has been a building block for the next couple of years to come, as the main cause for the team’s unfortunate yet expected unsuccessful season is a mostly young, inexperienced team. Dons play against Pacifica High School today so make sure to show your support! 

Junior Barbaro Cadena on the Ball

Image credit: Ramsey Royan