The boys soccer team has a current overall record of 10-4-1 and 3-4-1 in leagues, despite losing nine seniors last year, eight of whom were starters. This year’s record is an improvement from last year’s 6-7-3 overall and 3-4-1 in leagues.

“Our team’s chemistry is amazing compared to last year where we won games because of individual players,” midfielder senior Harry Rojas said. “This year we don’t have those superstars; we still have really good players, but we work as a team and we pass the ball.”

Although the team went undefeated in the annual Homestead Christmas Cup, it lost another two starters before the January 11 match against Mountain View High School (MVHS).

“We definitely could have done better if we had them, but they’re not the whole team either,” Co-captain senior Lucas Champenois said.

Without the 2 starters, the Eagles still managed to dominate possession over the ball and get over 10 shots on goal. MVHS had far fewer opportunities but was able to convert them into goals.

After the Eagles’ 0-1 loss to MVHS, they dropped to second position and went on a tie frenzy against Saratoga High School (0-0), Milpitas High School (1-1), Gunn High School (1-1) and Palo Alto High School (0-0). The consistent ties allowed Homestead High School to bridge the gap and surpass the Eagles to take second in league.

To break the ties, the Eagles decided to take a risk and went on the offensive against Homestead on Friday, January 28. The Eagles moved midfielders such as Harry to the forward position and dominated against the higher-ranked team, winning 3-1.

“In the beginning of the year, of course we were motivated to play soccer, but we didn’t know how good we were going to be,” Harry said. “Even our coach told the Town Crier or The Talon that we’re going to be fighting to stay up in the De Anza Division and we might fight for third. But now, everything has fallen into place and we feel like we can win the division.”