NRHS Soccer is Back... With Some Twists

Alex Streinger

New Rochelle High School’s Boys Varsity Soccer team has been a force to be reckoned with over the past few years. In 2016, under Coach Garcia, the team won the New York State Class AA title with a 2-1 victory over Fairport High School, ending a drought that had lasted decades. In the last three seasons, however, the team hasn’t repeated what they accomplished in 2016 when they cruised in the regular season and finished among the highest seeds in the playoffs. This year, the team came into the season ranked third in LoHud’s Preseason Power Rankings, and were expected to be within the top of the Class AA division. Although the season didn’t start the way the players hoped or expected, the team is still confident and motivated to continue its run as one of the top schools in the area.

The pandemic hasn’t given NRHS students a lot to be happy about since its beginning, but one thing we can all be excited for is the return of sports. Soccer, after being delayed months, finally began a couple of weeks ago as we progress through this odd 2020-21 school year. Although having sports back is great, there were some major changes made in order for players to be able to compete at the highest level while also being safe. New York State issued guidelines for the return of high school sports at the start of September, whereas they stated that among in-game restrictions, schools will be required to administer daily temperature checks and it will be necessary to clean and disinfect playing areas. Senior and varsity captain for boy’s soccer, Manuel Sosa, stated, “This season we have had to face a lot of new challenges, including wearing a mask everyday for practice and games.” He added, “We also never know when our last game will be so we have to play our season like every game is our last.” Although all the teams have had to overcome the same obstacles, the games have been nothing short of thrilling, and players and coaches are doing their best to adapt to the situation and perform as well as they can.