The boys’ soccer team opened its season with a 5-1 loss to Hueneme on Nov. 29, in recently hired head coach Kris Ward’s first game.

Despite the defeat, Ward  said that he found positive takeaways in the team’s performance.

“I think the attitude from everyone was really positive,” Ward said.  “I think that there’s a lot of work to be done. There always is; as coaches you realize there’s a thousand things to work on, but you only have time for a hundred of them.  So looking at that and prioritizing that, this game gives us the ability to hone down on what those are, but the attitude from all the players was great.”

Both team captains, Ethan Blaser ’17 and Theo Velaise ’17 exited the game with injuries.  Velez is not expected to miss any games, while Blaser is expected back after 7-14 days.  Despite their early exits, Ward said both captains contributed to the team’s effort from the sideline.

“Neither of them allowed their injury to dampen their spirits whatsoever,” Ward said.  “If anything, they drove on harder.  Theo injured his ankle and stopped icing his ankle to come over and talk to the group at halftime because it was important to him to get a message across. From that standpoint, all of the veterans have been great, some other guys stepped up.”

On the field, Ward said that the team had success in set-pieces, scoring once while surrendering no goals.

The Wolverines will head into next Monday’s match against Agoura looking to even their 0-1 record.  Last season, Agoura was able to defeat the Wolverines 2-0.

“From the players, I couldn’t really ask any more from them, they came in, they all gave their best effort,” Ward said.  “Now we just have to come back into training, and the attitude will be good today about moving forward and taking the next step to become the best team we can be.”