Two weekends ago the Spartans boys soccer team traveled to North Scott for a soccer tournament that they were expected to succeed in. However, in their first game against Davenport West- a team that is typically an easy win- they fell in Penalty kicks which not only hurt their record, but knocked them out of the championship game. The spartans would face the Falcons again only days later- and this time the result would be one that truly reflected the team’s effort and skill.
One player in particular made a world of a difference on the offensive front, which is where the team struggled in the first game. Senior Tomas Elias came off of the bench to score two goals for the spartans and tie for the leading scorer of the night. Although Elias came off of the bench, he had a positive attitude and said he respected his coach’s decision, “At first I was salty that I wasn’t starting but I respect the coach and his decisions. But it did feel good after I scored.”
Elias’s two goals helped set the tempo for the game early on and lead the team to a 7-0 victory over the team they had lost to less than a week earlier. One of Elias’s goals was a penalty kick that he drove into the upper 90, a vast difference from the earlier game. As Elias described, the game the Spartans lost to West was in part due to the teams inability to finish their penalty kicks. “As we came into pks we kind off choked missing 2 of the 5 pks. After that loss we couldn’t get the “sour taste” of defeat out of our mouths. So as we were about to play them for a second time we were thirsty for revenge.”
When asked the difference between the two games, Elias felt that the team’s mistake was their mentality going into the game. “Our ultimate downfall was coming into this game thinking it was going to be a easy game.” The team would not make this mistake again. Elias said, “Everyone took the game seriously like it was there last game they would play on this Earth,” Elias continued, “The biggest difference in my opinion is that “sour taste” and humiliation of losing. It got in our heads and we were determined to beat them next game.”
Junior Reece Spangler spoke of the efforts of Elias that night as well as Elias as a teammate. “Tomas is a great teammate who always has my back and pushes me to my limits,” said Spangler who also commended the way Elias played that night.
