Barstow boys soccer is wrapping up their regular season with their final game against Summit Christian on Wednesday, October 25. After a strong season with a promising record, they are eagerly awaiting the postseason, focusing on succeeding at districts.
The first district game falls on October 31st against Harrisonville Highschool. Last year, the team played Harrisonville in the district finals, beating them and becoming district champions. “We know Harrison’s abilities,” said Owen Snyder (‘24). “We played them in district finals twice in a row, they’re pretty good but we can handle them.”
Moving into the postseason, this team has grown closer than ever, according to Connor Lucido (‘24). He credits the team dinners that have been happening after practices “I think it really brings everyone together,” he said. “That’s kind of what food does.”
Although team chemistry is high, the dynamic this year has been slightly different with new leadership; “We’re a lot younger,” Snyder said. “We don’t have as much leadership from the seniors with the captains being mostly juniors, so it’s different from last year, [..] but I think we’re still ready to go for districts.”
At practices the team has been working hard and playing well, according to Eshan Patel (‘26). “We’ve been really good recently,” he said. “I feel like we’ve really been hitting our stride going into the postseason.” Most importantly, at practices everyone has been focused and motivated, working hard to improve every day.
The team is confident that they have the ability to win districts and move on from there. Recently, they had a rematch against long-time rival Van Horn, who they have not won against in over 7 years. Earlier in the season, the boys played Van Horn, losing 1-5. However, the team rallied to play them again on their senior night, clinching a 2-1 overtime win against the formidable team. “I think it’s a really good game to have in our back pocket going into districts,” said Lucido.
Similarly, the last few games were triumphant. They have been successful in playing their system and working together, despite the fact that the starters have been sitting out for the more recent games. Head Coach Huppe has been playing the reserve players in an effort to rest the starters and prevent any injuries before districts.
Of the most important rituals to stay on track for districts, Patel says that the team simply needs to focus on “staying locked in.” He described the focus and motivation of the team at an all-time high, but that it is important to preserve the track they’ve been on.
