This year’s boys soccer season was a historic one, with 12 wins and seven losses in the regular season, which led the team to Central Coastal Section (CCS) semifinals for the first time in 14 years, according to head coach James Williams.
The team fell short at the semi-final game, but still accomplished their original goal of making it to the playoffs, Williams said.
“Overall, the season was a success,” Williams said. “We had a couple low moments, but the guys were able to fight through those. We think we should have done better in the semi-finals, but it still was a good run.”
The team resonated with the idea that every season is a journey and a story, Williams said. He started by asking the team how they wanted their story to end, and reminded them that they were in control of writing it, he added.
“At the start of the year, the team consisted of groups or individuals,” Williams said. “We were talented, but it wasn’t necessarily a team. By the end of the year, they really became a team by hanging out together, playing together, and training together.”
Making it to the CCS playoffs felt really good, Williams said. Last year, the team missed it by a few points, so there was some bitterness involved as the juniors from last year, the seniors now, believed they could have made playoffs last year as well, he added.
“I think that’s part of the reason why, when this season started going in the opposite direction, they were able to really focus because they didn’t want to feel that again,” Williams said.
Senior Vivan Iyer has been on the team since his freshman year and felt the relief of finally making it to CCS playoffs at the end of his high school career, Iyer said.
“It was really good to see because freshman year we had a really bad record,” Iyer said. “And then sophomore year, we improved a little, and then junior year we barely missed out. The relief of finally making it senior year felt really good, since midway through the season it seemed like we wouldn’t make it.”
Iyer’s favorite memory from this season was when MHS scored a goal against Latino College Preparatory during the quarterfinal game, he said.
“There was a basketball game happening at the same time and their game ended so all the fans came over to our game,” Iyer said. “We went to overtime and somehow scored, and it was a really big celebration.”
Senior and co-team captain Andre Bahena, who has been playing on the team since his sophomore year, came into the season knowing that making playoffs was a must this year, he said.
“I think we all had that mindset throughout the whole season,” Bahena said.
As for playing style, the team adapts to however the other team plays, Bahena said.
“Of course, we already knew what we were going to do and how we were going to play; we just adapted depending on the team,” Bahena said. “We mainly focus on possessing the ball and then finding the striker’s feet.”
Making it to CCS playoffs felt like a work in progress throughout the years, Bahena said.
“It’s been in the making with getting a new coach a couple years ago and just restarting the program with new kids,” Bahena said. “(Making it to playoffs) was a big weight off our shoulders.”
Bahena believes MHS should have won the semi-final game since MHS was the better team that day, he said.
“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities that day,” Bahena said. “I wouldn’t say the better team won that day and I truly think that, but that’s just how soccer works.”
The team has worked to transform their identity over the past few years, Bahena said. His sophomore year, there were a lot of new guys off task with an unserious mindset and there was the reputation of MHS not being a playoff team, he added.
“The coaches knew that we had the players to become a playoff team,” Bahena said. “It started from there, by just believing in it.”
2024-04-05