Boys Soccer drops 2 straight

The AHS boys varsity soccer team set itself up with high expectations with two in a row scrimmage wins against South Lakes and Madison high school before the official season began. However, despite these successes, the team suffered losses in both of their first regular season games this year, first to Falls Church, and then to Thomas Jefferson High School.

However, after these losses the team remained highly optimistic.

“They got lucky,” stated senior mid-fielder Issa Thullah. “They were bums, they just got lucky.”  However, luck cannot be blamed entirely for a loss.

Team captain and senior Adeel Sarras blamed the loss on communication and nerves. He stated that these two areas of play would need to be improved for the team to achieve success.

“Communication is a big thing,” he says, “we got nervous to, we need tot keep our heads in the game.”

The primarily young team consisting largely of first year players showed difficulty remaining confident during play.

“It’s all part of the inexperience of our team,” says Sarras, “hopefully with more games we’ll get more confident.”

Apparently, these two losses provided all the confidence the team’s players needed because only two days after the loss to Thomas Jefferson high school, the AHS varsity soccer game won it’s first official game against Washington-Lee high school, concluding with a score of three to one.

This confidence came from experience as well as support for the younger base by the few older athletes. “”I talk to them, just little things that let them know what they need to do,” says junior Adem Gokturk, a team captain.

Along with confidence, the team also focused on taking more shots on offense, and locking down the defense.

As a mid-fielder, senior Issa Thullah is responsible for both offensive and defensive plays.

“If I had a shot I would take it,” he said. Increasing the number of shots taken by the offense was responsible for scoring more points and maintaining a lead against Washington-Lee.

This win showed the teams potential, but proved to be something other than a turn-around when Varsity soccer produced a disappointing zero to six loss to Yorktown.  This loss was attributed largely to an “unorganized defense,” according to several varsity players.

“We were nervous,” says senior Werner Brito, a varsity defensive player.  

In addition to this, the team arrived at the game late, and was not able to prepare for the game.  

“We got there late and didn’t get to warm up or anything so we weren’t focused and went easy in the first half,” Brito explains.

While they started the season out with two disappointing losses and lost their most recent game, the team obviously showed it knows what to do to improve with a solid win against Washington-Lee. And so, despite some signs for pessimism, one should expect success with the AHS boy’s varsity soccer team in coming games throughout the season.