Boys’ soccer played their first games on Sept. 11 against Poolesville. JV played at 5:30 p.m. with a close score and a disappointing loss of 2-1, with highlights from sophomore Christian Lee’s goal. Varsity made up for the loss with a 2-0 victory over Poolesville with goals scored by senior Alex Balian off a penalty kick and senior Noah Friedman. Head coach Eric Cava is getting settled into his fourth year as varsity head coach.

The team appears to have drastically improved since their 1-11 record last season, already tying their win total from last year. Senior captains Kian Kaz, Alex Balian, Ricky Gomez, Dilan Smith and Noah Friedman look to lead the team with a new energy. “I’m excited to be a captain this year along with my other captains and motivate us to have a great season,” Gomez said.

JV looks to improve as well, after finishing 4-4-2 last season. With the graduation of sophomores onto the varsity team, new freshman look to fill these roles. Freshman right winger Ishan Paudyal, freshman goalie Max Noon and freshman midfielder Abraham Burnett will fill these positions under head coach Evan Hoppman and assistant coach and senior Daniel Yaya. “I love coaching so much and seeing these players who are just entering high school have a goal to one day help the varsity team accomplish their goal of winning a state championship is so cool for me,” Yaya said.

After a disappointing end to varsity’s season last year with a first round elimination to Rockville and departure of seniors Jude Gully, Dylan Linton, John Yi and Kara Dokhaee, players have filled in opened roles Second year varsity juniors Aadi Chaudhari, Shreyas Ganeshan, Gimoon Kang and Kevin Sun will use their experience this year to step up. “I’m excited to help the team this season and look forward to winning much more this year,” Chaudhari said.

The team is gearing up for a game on Sept. 14 against Rockville on the road.