As the season comes to an end, the ERHS boys’ soccer team has raked up wins, ties, and losses. They have still done amazing this past season. When playing against Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School on Oct. 2, the soccer team won 3-0.

Senior Alex Pagan, captain of the team, talked about how the new turf field is amazing, “but I wish I could have had it for all 4 years. He said he was “actually surprised on how well the field was done unlike other PG county turf fields”, and that he was ” way more excited to play home games now since I know we have a perfect field.” When asked if the new turf field is an advantage, Pagan answered, “If you know how to pass a ball, it’s even easier on a surface such as a smooth, flat turf field.” He said that if the opponent hasn’t already played on a turf field, that’s another advantage.

“I was confident in our team the first game even though we lost a handful of good seniors from last year.  The first game is always the most important because it shows where we are as a team and where we need to improve.” When asked about the current season, “Our last two games have been very good, showing improvement in many areas that we were weak in such as the work rate we had during the games and our retention of the ball.”  He also stated that their main focus now is on playoffs, where seniors such as himself may represent ERHS one last time.

Senior Saad Akram stated that, “It felt amazing playing on our new turf field. It was a lovely opportunity me and the team had and we are very grateful.”  Akram added that, “The current season has been a roller-coaster of emotions which had its ups and down, but we did not let that bring us down,” He included that as a team, “we learned from our mistakes and became stronger as a unit. Hopefully we will continue and do wonderful in playoffs.”

Senior Hector Ortiz said that the new turf field meant, “no more games” when it came to playing and controlling the ball. Ortiz mentions that being able to play on the field is a great experience, but also bittersweet. “I would like to make even more memories on it.” Being able to play on the turf field is amazing, but being a senior means they will not be able to play on it again.