The soccer season started on Wednesday, April 6th with girls’ tryouts in the mornings from 6:45 to 8:00 am and boys tryouts in the evenings from 3:45 pm to 5:00 pm. Tryouts continued until Monday, April 11th until the final 22 players on each team were selected. Since then, the girl’s team has practiced in the morning Monday through Wednesday and the boys in the afternoon.

On April 21st, both the teams were set to have their first game of the season here at Canyon Vista against the Chisholm Trail Cougars. Unfortunately, the game was canceled due to bad weather. On the 28th, the teams played against the Ridgeview Panthers at their stadium. The boys team played first at 5:00 pm winning 3-0, while the girls team played after at 6:15 pm winning 1-0.

The boys team won with 8th graders Philip Richardson and West Bevins both scoring a goal, and 7th grader Nikola Djordjevic scoring on a penalty kick. Guillermo Ruiz played the entire game at goalkeeper keeping the Panthers from scoring a single goal. Lucian Tripon and Sai Kasam played well on defense also.  The girls team played amazing defense both halves and a goal by Haley Martinez led them to victory.

On May 5th both teams played the Walsh Wildcats here at home in Canyon Vista. In the boys game Walsh started off aggressive pressing the Mustangs and scoring within the first few minutes off of a set piece free kick. They continued to attack aggressively forcing goalkeeper Justin Lang to make some truly spectacular saves. In the end, Canyon Vista rallied and tied the game with about five minutes left from a header by 8th grader Anthony Bibbo off of a cross from 7th grader Luca Cipleu. The girls team played hard and managed to keep the Wildcats from scoring, tying the game 0-0.

“The team has helped me improve my skills, and just playing with other players gives us a sense of comradely,” explains Lucian Tripon on the effects of playing soccer at school. “Its also tons of fun,” he says. The game tickets cost $4 for parents and adults and $2 for students. Make sure to support our Mustangs out on the field!