Cavs varsity boys soccer team finishes fifth in Sac-Joaquin section

After a loss to Futures High School during playoff semi-finals, Country Day’s varsity soccer team ended the season as 5th in the Sac-Joaquin Section and 18th in the state for Division VII.

The team ended the season with a positive record, winning 12 games, losing five games and tying two games.

Junior Derek Taylor saved 102 shots this season between the 17 games that he played. 

Senior co-captain RJ Vargo scored 18 goals this season, sophomore Parker Byers scored 11, and senior co-captain Adam Akins scored nine.

One game, in particular, made RJ especially proud. During a game against Western Sierra, Akins scored a goal in the first few minutes of the game. The team then proceeded to play strong defense ending with a 1-0 win.

A similar play occurred in the homecoming game when RJ scored a goal only two minutes into the game.

After this year, however, the team will be very different, losing 10 players to graduation. But, RJ is confident that the younger members of the team will do quite well.

 “I think they will be fine and make it to the playoffs and hopefully semi-finals next year,” RJ said.

To do this, Akins provides the team with some advice for their next season. 

“We need to be able to allow players to work out of their comfort zones and have people learn new positions because we had 10 seniors on the team,” Akins said. “We’re going to have players learn a lot of new roles to be competitive next year.”

Head coach Matt Vargo hopes that the younger players will mature enough to be the leaders of the team, and RJ hopes that the team will be able to maintain the strong bond they formed this year. 

“We’re always trying to get excited during the game. I’ll look over at the bench and try to get everyone moving a little bit,” RJ said. “[Junior] Aiden Cooley is good at getting everyone hyped, and that is a big thing for our team”

Cooley, a new addition to the soccer team, played soccer for the first time this season. Cooley ended up scoring one goal and making one assist. Senior Aaron Monasa felt proud since he made six goals this season, compared to the one goal he made last season.

Coach Vargo knows that next year with a loss of 16 players in the past two years the team dynamic will change a lot. But he has high hopes for the varsity soccer team and believes they can make it to the top three of their league next year.

By Anika Nadgauda

This story was originally published in Nov. 16 issue of The Octagon

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