The Pleasant Valley boys’ soccer team is the two-time defending 3A state champions. But with only 60% of the team returning to this year, can the boys defend their title?
The boys started off their season by defeating Wahlert Catholic 3-0 in their home season opener. Senior captain Jeffery Rinker, who led the team last year with 17 goals in the regular season, believes this season will be different from previous ones. “It will be a lot different than the past two years, where we have had mostly seniors in our starting 11. Now with only 4 to 5 seniors starting, it will be a brand new experience for all of us, especially the freshman getting serious minutes on varsity,” he stated.
Esai Vazquez and Ethan Chang are two of the freshmen on the team that are in the starting lineups. Rinker continued, “I have no doubt we will be successful, and will win the MAC, with the obvious goal to get in the vans to the state tournament.”
Senior Nolan Graham, a starting center back, also shares the same opinion as Rinker on the new starters. “I think the season should be another good one with all of the new players this year. I’m really excited to see where we will end up this season,” he said.
The boys team aren’t the only ones with success so far.
The girls’ soccer team also only has about 60% of their varsity roster returning this season. They made it to the state quarterfinals last season, eliminated 0-1 by Ankeny.
The girls started out their season, beating Davenport Central 4-0. Junior goalkeeper Maddy Huber thinks this season is going to be successful, yet challenging. “We have a lot of talent across all grades. If we connect with each other, we will be able to do great things. Last year, we graduated a lot of key players. Filling their spots will be hard but with all the talent we have I think we will be able to do it and have a good outcome on the season,” she said.
One of the captains, junior Morgan Russman, is currently leading the team with 4 goals. “I think this year is going to be full of hard work and learning. As a young team we have a lot of work to do to get to where we need to be,” she noted. “As long as we focus and stay true to ourselves everyday we should be in a good place by the end of the season.”
The girls will play the North Scott Lady Lancers tomorrow, April 4. The stage is set for a good game against the undefeated team.
The boys will also be playing North Scott, but on Thursday, April 6. The Pleasant Valley Spartans are prepared to fight.
Both the girls and boys teams started this season out strong. Will they live up to this season’s expectations? How are they going to perform with only a portion of their rosters returning?
