By Moses Leos III.
With laughter permeating the quiet surroundings of Lobo Field, Saturday’s Lady Lobo alumni soccer game was a harbinger of fun and excitement for the Lehman High girls soccer program.
While the mood was lively, head coach Nauri Garcia and the Lady Lobos were already working hard on their ultimate goal of bringing a district title to Lehman High.
It began during the preseason, where the program improved its conditioning methods.
Senior Max Soto, who has been with the program since her freshman year, felt it was the toughest she’s experienced.
“A ton of conditioning was going on,” she said. “We did a lot of crossfit runs and hard workouts to get us mentally prepared [for the season].”
Lehman High soccer player Max Soto looks upfield during the Lady Lobos’ alumni soccer game on Saturday. (Photo by Moses Leos III) |
In addition, Garcia and his staff worked to build the team philosophy of synchronicity – the idea of keeping times, runs and passes all working in harmony. Ensuring the synchronous play was a key feature for the team, as the Lady Lobos have several young players, primarily on defense and in net.
Despite the lack of game experience, Garcia was confident in his athletes’ abilities.
“We have the players,” Garcia said. “Right now, it’s just getting the work in and making sure we’re all on the same page and synchronized.”
However, injuries have stymied some of that development, particularly at the forward position. Garcia has worked on finding players who can complement the team’s strength in the scoring third.
Soto was impressed with how quickly the freshmen have picked up on the team’s ideologies.
Along with Soto are junior Pressley Bailey and senior Mariah Tamayo – all three were a part of the 2013 area round squad. Garcia lauded their collective strengths.
“Max has been a constant threat for any team for the last three years,” Garcia said. “[Mariah] is big part of what we do. And junior Pressley Bailey can see the whole entire field. She is a game changer.”
The priority for the team now is gaining confidence. Garcia thinks the team will attain that success as the season progresses.
Soto understands confidence, along with several other factors, will help the team succeed. Ensuring the team can bolster its talents during the pre-district schedule is paramount.
“We just have to work on confidence,” she s-aid. “I’d [also] like to speed up our play; work on moving the ball quicker and capitalize on counters.”
Garcia plans to find the best formations that will help in what he feels will be a loaded 49-4A.
He said the team will count on the improvement of Bastrop and Hays – two teams, which, along with Lehman, were atop the district standings in 2013.
Garcia also believes Lockhart and Giddings will prove to be difficult opponents in the upcoming year. Due to the improvement in district, the non-district schedule and the Rebel Cup will be the team’s whetting stone for district play.
“What matters is district. Everything else is preliminary,” Garcia said. “Our girls like to win, they enjoy to win … we want to win as much as we can. But what matters is district.”
For Soto and the upperclassmen, the challenge will be staying motivated to surpass last season’s success.
“Every year has been a step up from the next,” Soto said. “That’s why it’s easy to stay motivated. We have so much talent; it keeps getting better and better.”
