“We should be very competitive this year once we come together as a team and people accept their roles. We have great senior leadership and outstanding captains who are helping guide the team this year,” said boys’ soccer head coach Paul Christensen.

This year’s boys’ varsity team is stacked with talent. Led by senior captains, center defensive midfielder Reid Dowling, center back Gavin O’Brien, center midfielder Blake Biggs, and goalie Connor Piper.

“They (the captains) are excellent role models who other teammates look up to. Players listen to them and follow their examples both off and on the soccer field,” said coach Christensen.

The supporting cast for the captains include a loaded junior class. Some of these players include striker Robbie Stoddard, striker Diego Virgen and center midfielder Brendan Osso.

The expectation set by coach Christensen is to compete. He wants the team to qualify for the ECC and state tournaments.

He also hopes that as the season continues, that his team will work hard and improve.

“Our goal for this year is to show that we will outwork any team in the ECC and bring back the respect to EL soccer that was tarnished by the extremely tough competition faced the past couple years against some All-Americans,” said the captains in a team statement.

The team captains said that this team always has a winning mentality and every player plays 100 percent come game time.

“We’ve been able to bounce back after our losses so far, and we’ll continue to work hard as a team to reach our goals,” said the team captains.