Imagine being tied all throughout the first half of the game when suddenly your whole team has a shift in energy, when scoring the last point of the game a teammate backflips towards the touchline. The Rangeview Raiders won 4-1 on Saturday, August 19th, 2023 against the Highlands Ranch Falcons. The team had some strong offensive and defensive plays throughout the game, but Highlands Ranch was not giving up easily. The game kept a steady pace as the Raiders kept closing in on the Falcon’s goal area. Junior David Lopez scored the first goal for Rangeview after Highlands Ranch scored their first penalty tying the game at 1-1. Soon after, Rangeview got an opportunity from the corner, senior Alexis Salas crossed it to the back post where senior Ariel Gamboa scored a header, making the game 2-1. Rangeview made some plays in order to open the field up allowing Salas to shoot on target after about seven missed shots, he finally landed one from half field in the second half. Making the score 3-1. This gave Rangeview a strong lead with only a couple of minutes left of the game. Attacking offensively, Lopez scored going around the goalie, running to the touchline doing a backflip.
Interviewing the players after an incredible win and a great start to the season seemed to let us know that their hopes are high. Speaking to Lopez about how he feels the game went was not something to disappoint. He moved from C team all the way up to Varsity demonstrating the willpower this boy has. He stated he was “a bit nervous” since it was his first year with the varsity team but that fear did not stop him from scoring two amazing goals, one of them being followed by a flip; making the crowd and the rest of the team go wild! Salas said his first goal “felt good, and it’s a good way to open up the season.” He states that the team had an amazing response to the penalty call that had them down 0-1 to the Falcons.
Another one of our scorers Gamboa felt as if the team did a pretty good job working together but they still had more room for improvement. Players on the team felt there was room for improvement agreeing with Coach Strouse. Strouse stated that the boys “did some nice things but they also made a lot of mistakes.” Strouse intends for the team to be stronger not only individually but as a whole as well as “not having any new surprises, [so] they’ll be ready for a lot of different challenges.”
The game had some ups and downs throughout it all but that didn’t seem to stop the boys from forgetting their passion for the sport. The captains did a great job at leading the team in the right direction when things started going south. They communicated throughout all the passes, assists, and shots at goal. Since their first game on Saturday, August 19, 2023, the team has brought Rangeview Boys Soccer home with 3 straight wins. There is still more to uncover, more players to score and more schools to dominate.
