- May 17, 2024
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A Pirates player fights for the ball against the Mustangs. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas' Blair Lamphier kicks a ball toward the goal against Mandarin. Photo by Ray Boone
Blair Lamphier fights for the ball against Mandarin players. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas keeper Brandt Herron dives to keep a ball out of the net. Photo by Ray Boone
Pirates keeper Brandt Herron slides to stop Mustangs player from scoring. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas' Jayson Jahn fights to steal the ball from a Mustangs player. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas' Joel Meza lobs a pass downfield. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas' Joel Meza prepares to pass the ball against Mandarin. Photo by Ray Boone
The Pirates' Tristan Alvarez dribbles the ball down the field against the Mustangs. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas' Jayson Jahn fights to steal the ball from a Mustangs player. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas head coach Rich Weber speaks to his team during a water break. Photo by Ray Boone
Forty-nine.
That’s the number of goals Nathan Hubbs scored in his junior and senior seasons with Matanzas’ boys soccer team.
Entering the 2018-19 season, the Pirates will be without their leading goal scorer from the past two seasons. Hubbs, as well as a slew of other Pirates seniors, graduated last year.
This season’s team is one of Pirates head coach Rich Weber’s youngest yet. Of the Pirates’ 25-man roster, six are sophomores and two are freshmen — the majority of whom are bound to see significant playing time.
For much of the Pirates season-opening game against Mandarin on the night of Monday, Nov. 12, that same youth often times made it difficult for the Mustangs. The Mustangs scored three goals on the Pirates’ home field — but nothing came easy.
“We showed some grit tonight,” Weber said after the Pirates’ 3-0 loss to the Mustangs. “A lot of kids would quit going through that kind of turmoil. We kept fighting. That’s all I ask of them.”
Regardless, the Pirates’ lack of physical maturity was evident against a much older, experienced team. Several times throughout Monday night, a Pirates player would charge at a ball, side-by-side with a Mustangs player. More often than not, the Pirates player was sent tumbling toward the ground upon contact.
“They’re used to playing against other kids their age. They think they can take others on. But the reality is that you’ve got to play a different way,” Weber said. “The high school game is much more physical when you have 14 and 15-year-olds playing against 18-year-olds.”
Weber said he expects junior midfielder Blair Lamphier to step up in the absence of last year’s senior class. Lamphier had several shot on-goal against the Mustangs but couldn’t put a ball past their goal keeper.
“This team has a lot of potential. I feel like we can do a lot,” he said. “But we need to be aggressive and not be scared just because we are a smaller team. We need to believe we can beat other teams even without size.”
