Ranked 13th in the nation according the Elite Soccer Report website, the boys’ varsity team carries a 9-0-1 unbeaten streak into tonight’s district opener against Flower Mound [5-2-2] at 7:30 p.m. at Max Goldsmith Stadium.
Head coach Brandon McCallum said he appreciated the acknowledgement from the creator of the Elite Soccer Report site, Sheldon Shealer.
“I think people are giving us respect for the games we’ve played so far,” McCallum said. “I guess somebody out there has noticed that. It shows how hard the team and the players are working and I think it’s great for them and well-deserved.”
The team has yet to face off against other nationally-ranked district teams such as Marcus (19th) or Coppell (8th). The website also features state rankings, putting Coppell 2nd, Lewisville 3rd and Marcus 5th in Texas.
“We haven’t played Marcus, Hebron, Flower Mound, or Coppell, so it only gets more difficult from here,” McCallum said. “So in order to justify our ranking, we’re going to have to get results from those teams.”
In the nine non-district games played, senior forward Nate Bukassa scored a total of 9 goals, senior midfielder Brandon Hom scored 5, and junior forward Brandon Tenorio scored 4. Sophomore goalkeeper Santiago Lepper recalled the zeal displayed after the team received their first goal of the season
“It was the first game of the first tournament and Nate scored,” Lepper said. “He got so happy that he scored that he went for a cartwheel and then went for a backflip and landed on his neck.”
The team has had five shutouts so far against teams such as Denton Ryan [6-4-1] and Hurst L.D. Bell [3-1-0], but junior goalkeeper Angel Herrera still believes he has room for improvement.
“It wasn’t easy, but I got them,” Herrera said. “I’m working to be able to get more shutouts in the future. I didn’t expect us to get as far as we’ve gone. We just take each game one by one.”
The one tie of the preseason was against Fort Worth Paschal [5-3-1] with a score of 3-3. McCallum saw this as a wake-up call to tighten up the team’s management of games as the Farmers took a 3-1 lead in favor of our varsity team only to finish with a draw.
“Psychologically, we sat there and were 3-1 and we took our foot off the gas a little bit, but then you give a goal back and now it’s 3-2 and they get the momentum and manage to tie it up 3-3,” McCallum said. “Getting more organized on set kick pieces, free kicks, and corner kicks is definitely something we have to get better at.”
With the overall success of the season so far, McCallum emphasized the importance of cooperation with this year’s squad.
“This group is one of the best teams we’ve had in here as far as a team goes,” McCallum said. “We organize well, we defend well, and we attack well, so whatever individual talent we might be lacking from last years group, we make up with a more concerted team effort.”
