The varsity team huddles together before start of the game. Photo by Lifetouch.
By Jaquelyn Peynado
As the Rockie soccer team heads into Sectionals this month, here are the recaps of the plays against three of the school’s top rivals.
The boys’ JV and Varsity traveled to Warsaw to face one of their most difficult rivals early in the season. Varsity entered bold into the game with a goal in the first couple minutes. Senior Colin Calvert kicked a solitary goal, resulting in the Rockies leaving the first half of the game triumphant with the scoreboard marked 1-0. Rockies entered the second half and the aspiration for the another goal was satisfied with a pass from Sophomore Jorge Calix to Calvert, who once again took one for the team.
Calvert said, “I felt like I was on top of the world. It was one of my favorite moments from high school soccer and it is always a memory I am going to look back on and enjoy.”
Although, senior and varsity goalie Sam Stone cannot be forgotten when it comes to the team’s successful game. He blocked many shots from the
The team lines up to begin the game. Photo by Lifetouch.
Tigers that night. The Rockies defeated the rival Warsaw Tigers 2-0.
Unfortunately, the JV team did not beat the rival team the same night.
Sophomore Sam Tanner says, “Unfortunately we lost, but I believe we could have had a chance at winning if we would not have lost a player in the first half.” The JV were defeated by the Tigers 1-0.
To begin Blueberry weekend, the Rockies played state champions, Goshen. This was a much anticipated for both the boys and fans. The Redskins overtook the Rockies with a score of 1-0 for the first half. The Rockies’ optimism, however, did not deteriorate.
Sophomore Wyatt Howard said, “I believed we could beat them because we practiced hard all week to prepare for the big game.”
Unfortunately, the Redskins came back into the second half more fierce, scoring five goals. In the end, the Rockies were conquered by the state champions with a final score of 6-0.
JV also was defeated by the Redskins, but left a good play on the field. Freshman Austin Arriaga outdid the Goshen players by scoring the first goal for the Rockies during the first half. The first half ended with Rockies short one goal, 1-2. Arriaga returned during the second half with another score to offer. The last Rockie goal was scored by Ozzy Arias with a pass from teammate Ruben Herrera ‘19 during second half as well. The JV Rockies gave their best effort but were also overcome by the Redskins with a final score of 5-3.
Arias said, “We communicated, we played fierce, but in the end we fell short.”
The last of the biggest rivals played thus far was Argos, whom the Rockies played early September. at Argos High School. The Rockies entered strong with a score by Sophomore Erick Zelaya in the first three minutes into the game. However, not much later in the first half, Argos caught up. The rest of the game was impassable and the Rockies left Argos with a tie of 1-1.
Zelaya said, “It was a great feeling to score that goal for my team early on, it gave us the confidence that it was going to be a good game. Even though we couldn’t score again and it ended in a tie, we worked hard and in the end, that’s all that mattered.”
JV Rockies brought home the win against school rival Argos on the same night. The Argos Dragons only managed to score one goal, but Rockies were on fire, scoring five goals in total. Freshman Alex Baca scored two goals, junior Michael Feece scored one goal for the Rockies, freshman Austin Arriaga with one goal, and Caleb Gawronski with one goal also.