Amazing Season From the Boys’ Soccer Team
April 16, 2019
Independence Boys Varsity Soccer team had a spectacular season consisting of amazing comebacks, blowouts and nail-biting games. The boys used hard work day in and day out to ensure success.
The boys’ Varsity Soccer team participated in the Moon Valley Invitational Tournament and made it to the semi-finals, unfortunately losing to Ironwood High School.
They hosted the Independence Invitational Tournament. Once again they completely demolished their opponents and were able to win the tournament with ease.
Independence boys’ soccer went undefeated for the first half of the season. The boys later had to prepare for two tough games: Campo Verde and Ironwood. Unfortunately, they lost both of these games and started the new year a little rough.
However, they kept their heads up and moved on. Sophomore Eyad Hadi stated,” we just lost our focus for those games”. The next challenge was to win their region which they were able to do. They set the tone in their first region game with a 17-0 win against Willow Canyon, and went on to secure the region title on senior night.
With state coming up, the boys were excited and prepared for the upcoming challenge. After winning the first round against Paradise Valley, the boys felt amazing. The quarter- finals were next and their opponent was Desert View, who was no pushover. Desert View was nationally ranked higher than Independence. However, that did not matter to the the Patriots as they won 3-1.
They then progressed to the state semifinals which was against Sunnyside – the number 1 ranked team in Arizona. It did not go their way this year as the boys lost once again in the semifinals.
Coach Cesar stated,” In soccer you never lose, you either win or learn and unfortunately the boys had to learn”.
The boys had an astounding season, if not the best season yet in Independence soccer history. However, the boys are focused on next year’s season. With 14 seniors leaving this year, it will certainly be a much different team. New players will have the opportunity to step up and show what they are made of.