Encinal Men’s soccer has shown great improvement and promise this season compared to previous years. However they have struggled this season, with a current record of 1-5.
Early in the Island Derby, Encinal suffered an unfortunate loss. Sophomore goalkeeper Finley Collins received a red card for a handball outside of the goalie box. This red card also side-lined Collins for the Jets 7-3 victory, their first win of the season against San Lorenzo on Jan. 16.
“I felt nervous at first, and I did let up three goals…but I felt they weren’t really my fault,” sophomore goalkeeper Adam Meyers said about playing up on varsity.
This first win came much needed after a 5-0 loss to their island foes, Alameda High just two days before San Lorenzo.
“The Alameda High game was a big setback for our confidence, but we came into this game hungry, we wanted the win, we needed the win,” freshman Jairo Fernandez said.
Despite the rough start to the season, players remain optimistic for the second half of their season. “This win shows that we can actually score, we’ve been needing that. It definitely helps us out for the future,” Fernandez said.
The San Lorenzo game has given Encinal much needed confidence heading into the second half of the season, as it will carry into the backend of close games.
“This gives us a lot of hope because we’ve had a lot of tough games where we either lost 2-1 or 1-0, ” freshman Jayden Rendon Lara said.
The team looks to carry this momentum from the dominant win throughout the rest of the season. Both Collins and Fernandez have expressed that their expectations for this team are higher than they have achieved thus far.
“Hopefully we get at least .500. We really want to qualify for NCS, but these… losses have been pretty heartbreaking,” Collins said.
Other than this win, Encinal has shown improvement, losing in one score games this season to teams that they have been blown out by last season.
“We definitely should have won some games… or at least tied them, but we need to bounce back,” Fernandez said.
The team looks to add to the win total, as they already have claimed the same amount of victories as they had last season. The next game for the Jets is on Jan. 23, against Tennyson.
