The boys soccer team will compete in its season opener against Allen on Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Eagle Stadium.
Last season, the team finished second in district, with an overall record of 15-4-4, and advanced to the playoffs. Only five starters returned from last year’s team after they lost 10 seniors.
“There’s a lot more unknown,” head coach Mathew Zimmerman said. “Last year, we stepped in and we knew exactly where people were going to be. The pieces were there, and a lot of people returned from the year before. This year, there’s a lot of movable pieces.”
This season, 20 players on the team are newcomers. The team aims to keep its regular formation and build from there.
“A lot of our seniors last year were defenders,” midfielder Landen Krey said. “That’s where we got a lot of goals from. So coming [into] this year, there’s a lot of openings for defenders to come in.”
The team hasn’t officially played Allen in eight years, but has scrimmaged against them. The results have always been either a tie or within a goal.
“Allen is always one of the best programs in the area,” Zimmerman said. “It’s one of the reasons we like to scrimmage them. It’s a great early season test to see where we’re at.”
The team scrimmaged against Rick Reedy High School on Dec. 13 and Arlington Martin on Dec. 16 in order to prepare for this game against Allen; the team lost both scrimmages. Krey said they also plan on watching film of Allen’s recent gameplay to work on possible tactics.
“One of the main things we’ve been working on is pressing,” striker Ezra Cryer said. “It’s our big target right now, [along with] winning the ball off goal kicks. Since it’s a new varsity team, we’ve been working on playing and building chemistry between everyone.”
With the new district realignments this season, the team will face new competition like Braswell, Guyer and Little Elm. Zimmerman said he expects it to be a challenge to familiarize with the new teams.
“The expectations for this year are high,” Zimmerman said. “We look at ourselves as a playoff team. The bare minimum is that we make it to the playoffs, and we’re looking at making a run for the district championship.”