With the summer over, the school year begins and so does the fall sports season. Crowds of Batavia High School students constantly flock toward the football and soccer games. The first varsity soccer game played this year was just last week, a 1-0 win against Bartlett on Aug. 26. The team followed it up with a 4-0 win against Larkin on Sept. 4 to improve to 2-0 in conference play.
The Varsity team roster, led by Coach Gianfrancesco, consists of 18 players. Many of the players are juniors and some are sophomores, which shows good team depth and potential. Daniel Zagoren, Nathan Carey, and Mason Parlatore make up some of the team’s best defenders with Josh Vilchuck, Adam Heinz, and Matt Allen comprising the midfield game. Forwards Ian Larson and Kevin Collins make a powerful one-two punch.
Senior sportswriter Matt Cuartero interviewed varsity midfielder Mason Parlatore to give us an inside look of the coming season.
Q: ¨Tell me about the team this year. What kind of strengths do we have going into the season? We will have 20 games this season. How will we fare in the long run? ¨
A: ¨Our team is looking good this year. We have a good amount of returning players along with some new varsity players including myself. Our main strength is how fast we can move the ball and create opportunities, along with a solid defense. In the long run we hope to come close to last year’s varsity team record of 16 wins.¨
Q: ¨Tell me more about last week’s game against Bartlett. How did we play against them? Were there any standout moments? ¨
A: ¨Our season opener against Bartlett was a success after beating them 1-0. We played well overall but the first half of the game was relatively uneventful. However, the second half was much better as we created many close chances and ended up scoring one. There were not too many great moments during our first game but some highlights included Ian Larson’s free kick which hit the crossbar of the goal and Davis DiBiase’s goal.¨
Q: ¨What are your main goals this season? Are you confident in your team?¨
A: ¨Our team goals for the season are to build trust in order to create a solid team, to win the Morton tournament, win the Waubonsie Valley tournament, win Conference and Regional, and of course to beat Geneva. I’m confident our team can achieve our goals for the season and much more.¨
Q: ¨How would you describe the year’s schedule?¨
A: ¨There is some good competition out there this season, and we look forward to the challenge.¨
-Matt Cuartero