Ellie Dunn

Practicing with the varsity team on Aug. 20, senior Brian Roskamp shoots in the center of the field. The team practices everyday after school from 3 p.m. until about 5 p.m. in preparation for their first game.

With a team change in place at the junior varsity level and a varsity team returning from a close loss at last year’s district championship, all levels of boy’s soccer have set goals for their upcoming season.

The freshmen team transformed into a JV C team after only nine freshmen tried out.

“I think it was unfortunate to have a lower number, but I am glad to see that all of the boys will get a chance to play.  A cool thing is that the youngest guys will now get to learn from guys with more experience.  Overall, my goal is ultimately to show the players what we expect out of Longhorn soccer players in preparation for them to play at the varsity level,” coach Jeff Blankenship said.

Although there may be a change at the JV level, JV B coach Tom Herpel has kept the same goals for his team in hopes that they will never hit a plateau in their progression.

Hoping to exceed some of their usual goals, varsity players are working towards getting to districts and beyond.

“We are expecting to score more than in past years, and see an increase in our shutouts,” head varsity coach Michael Skordos said.

The players agree.

“We’re different this year because we have 12 seniors that know what it feels like to work so hard and come so close to a district championship, and have it ruined in a span of 10 seconds.  So, the goal for this year is to win state – quest for the best.  Everybody wants it more than any other team I can think of,” senior midfielder Gavyn Prsha said.