Boys soccer seeking repeat

This season, St. John’s boys’ soccer team will be looking to repeat as DCSAA champions, after last year’s defeat of Wilson High School. 

While this was the team’s first championship since 1986, they have a tricky road ahead without six seniors who have gone off to college. Daniel Majano ’22 said, “Culture and hard work will be the key to repeat.” Having 10 current seniors with championship experience will be a staple in maintaining that culture. 

The team will play 12 total games this season, seven away and five at home. An early marquee game will be this Friday night, when the Cadets face Wilson for a championship rematch. From that point on, the schedule includes only one home game against St. Mary’s Ryken on Quinn Field before a stretch of three away games and then finishing off the season at Gonzaga. 

Discipline and preparation are going to be very important over a difficult schedule like that. Majano said, “Preparation in the WCAC means tough conditioning and being able to play out of the back.” The team wants to make sure they can stay disciplined and consistently move up the field when transitioning from defense to offense. 

Technicality will also be very important to winning, with spacing and ball handling being core fundamentals to focus on. The players will have to work in tight areas and improvise from the game plan, which is a primary skill to develop within the team’s young core. With all these in check, the Cadets are sure to make a deep run at a repeat.