BY ALEXA FULLER ’30
Along with a new season comes new goals, new challenges, and a new chance to make the playoffs. Maybe even States. This year is no different, as the Jericho Boys Varsity Soccer Team strives to give their all on the field.
Last season, the team got close to making the playoffs, but unfortunately they didn’t. The team ended the season with 5 wins, 7 losses, and 3 ties compared to the previous season of 10 wins, 3 losses, and 4 ties. During the 2024 season, the Jayhawks were close to making States, but ultimately lost in the quarterfinals of the Nassau County Championship to South Side. Captains Zander Ragozino ’28 and Liam Feldman ’27 have high hopes for this season. “We have a lot of strong guys who have put in consistent work in practices and the summer league leading up to the season,” said Zander, who believes in a promising future for this season.
Captain Liam acknowledged that the start of the season might have been rough with a 1-4-1 record, but he maintains hope for the team. Liam said, “Although we’ve had a slow start, I believe that the team has a lot of potential and that we can definitely pick our season back up.”
Throughout the season, the team plans to try out new formations that will give them the best shot at winning. It has been hard losing strong seniors who made a big impact on the team last year. Zander said, “Beyond that, we need to create more opportunities in the final third and limit small mistakes that cost us goals…”
The team needs to find a way to make attacking plays in the opposing half, and to minimize the amount of mistakes which lead to conceding goals. These improvements can help the team break through and start winning games. Last year, the team struggled with playing strong from the first minute, to the last. They started off slow normally and it would be hard to pick up the pace in the second half when already being down.
“This year, I think the fix starts with the warm-up. It should begin slowly with lots of activation and build in intensity as we get closer to kick-off, so we’re sharp from the beginning,” said Zander.
On Tuesday, September 22, Jericho beat Calhoun 2-1, with goals from Zander Ragozino and Avery Ragozino ’28, and assists from Andrew Pang ’27 and Lucas Grieco ’28. Along with that, Parsa Tehrani ’30 made a great save on a penalty kick in the second half. This win is just the beginning to the Jericho Boys Varsity Soccer Team’s new winning streak!
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