Written by: Jackson Freeman Photos by: Jackson Freeman and Liam Schulte

Quick passes, hard shots, fun celebrations. Soccer at ThunderRidge has beautiful moments, no matter how difficult it may be to do. The endurance, fine touches, and pure power needed to succeed makes it a challenging sport to excel at. However, the ThunderRidge boys soccer team embodies this perfectly. From great chemistry to amazing solo plays, they show what it means to be successful at soccer.

With this in mind, here are a few exceptional athletes at ThunderRidge to give you their point of view on soccer:

Koleton Pfaff (10) is a midfielder on the varsity soccer team. Koleton loves the team bonding aspect of soccer, especially when it comes to team dinners before a game. The varsity squad always gets some food the night before their games, be it at a team member’s house or going out to dinner. It’s helpful for team bonding and a way for the players to relax after a practice preparing for their game. Koleton says, “I love to play for ThunderRidge. We have a great coach in Mike Parsons and have an amazing team.”

On the other side of the field, Wiley Pilger (10) is a goalkeeper on junior varsity. Being a goalkeeper is hard, as the reaction time and hand-eye coordination needed is far greater than all other positions on the field. “It’s the most difficult position on the field for sure,” Wiley stated, “But I love doing it, especially for ThunderRidge and the amazing people around me.” Wiley expresses his excitement for this season and is anxious to see how far ThunderRidge can go.

Joining Wiley with excitement about the season is Brogan Meyers (10), midfielder and captain on varsity. Brogan is the only sophomore captain this year at ThunderRidge, which he achieved through hard work in the offseason and displaying a positive attitude. Brogan says, “I love playing for the badge and under the lights every week. It’s a great experience and we have a deep roster, so I’m excited about how far we can go this season.”

All in all, soccer is a difficult sport to be good at, and it takes a lot of hard work along with natural talent. Especially with all the competitive teams and high schools in Colorado, it can be hard for others to believe in ThunderRidge, despite all the talent they have throughout the roster. The chemistry at ThunderRidge is unmatched, and the varsity team is composed of a great group of friends and competitors. The rest of Colorado all need to watch out, as the varsity team is coming for the state title.