Boy’s Soccer on a Roll

Photo+courtesy+of+Robert+Hill

Photo courtesy of Robert Hill

Megan Curling, Editor in Chief

For most RJR students, August and September brought an end to fun and a transfer back to the normal routine and workload that come hand in hand with school. However, the members of the guy’s soccer team have been at it all summer, working to form what has become a powerhouse team.

“We started having some workouts late last May, and after school ended there was at least one session everyday in the summer. Then once teams were picked there were two a days until school started, now we practice Monday-Thursday and sometimes on Fridays. Practices are two hours each,” junior center midfielder Andrew Petersen said.

All the hard work has paid off, as ten games into the season they have only one loss to West Forsyth in the coveted preseason Forsyth Cup, which sets the rest of the season to look very promising.

“I think we have been doing so well this season because our team has been playing together for a while now so we know all of our strengths and weaknesses,” senior captain Alex Cockman noted.

A team with 11 seniors, the varsity men’s soccer team has a chemistry that head coach Tony Sabio can describe only one way.

“FAMILIA,” Sabio said.

The 11 remaining regular season games include a rematch against West and potentially challenging meetings with both East Forsyth and Reagan. And while the Demons have the potential to come out on top, in order to guarantee the wins, they can improve on one thing.

“We need to be able to start fast, sometimes it takes us too long to start playing well,” Petersen said.

After finishing the 2016-17 season 17-7-1 with a loss to Providence in the state playoffs, players are planning to go even further this year.

Both Cockman and Petersen confirmed that the team’s goal is to make it to the 4A State Championship.

But win or lose, championship or not, Sabio has an impressive off the field goal for his players as well.

“One of the goals that I have is for all 11 [seniors] to go on and continue learning at a community college or university,” Sabio explained.

As the season continues on, with over half of the games still left to play, the focus will continue to be on the shorter term.

“The current opponent is the only thing that matters. Win the next game. Never looking ahead or behind just staying focused on whoever the next opponent is,” Sabio said.

The Demons play at Davie on Tuesday night followed by four conference home games in the next two weeks against Reagan, West, and East, all games at 7 PM.