With a recent win against aerospace of a score (2-1), the boys soccer team is inching closer to meeting the requirements of the state tournament.

With only two more needed wins they seem to be going strong and their coach has faith in them making it into the state tournament as she stated, “if we come out and play our best soccer 100%.”

With a few wins against Parish Hill(3-1), Classical(3-2), Computer Science(7-0), and International(3-0), their wins seem to always show just how much the team is capable of.

The boys soccer team having past struggles this season with scoring, they seem to be showing their true potential with an amazing recent win against Aerospace.

Coach Silenok stated “ I know playing on grass we usually struggle with our touch on grass as it’s a lot different than turf,” here the team shows their ability to learn quick as their recent win was a game on grass. “I can think of a couple but our main strength is knowing what were capable of,” said Coach Silenok as she spoke of the team’s main strengths and what they’re best at.

Dealing with injuring and absences their future of making it to the state tournament was looking rather bleak, but they seemed to have started to pull through with the recently spoke about win.

Speaking with a team member Dario Soto ’24, hes played on the UHSSE boys soccer team for two years and he spoke about how the team has been making improvements this year little by little. After being asked about how likely he thinks it is for the team to qualify for the state tournament he said, “ I think very likely.”

With a member of the team and Coach Silenok both stating their positive views on the team making it, it looks like the boys soccer team has been trying their hardest lately.

Dario Soto speaking on his personal strengths and weaknesses, states that he believed his speed was a noticeable strength and as for weaknesses, his goal scoring needed improvement as he said, “ I had a few chances last game and I messed them up becauseI’m a little too rough.”

Coach Silenok spoke about how the team is really good at taking responsibility for things and it’s shown to be true as Dario Soto is open about things he’s good and bad at.

Also to mention his unique sleep schedule he spoke about, he’s always “well rested” for a game or practice session. With great words for advice for upcoming young athletes Dario Soto said, “to not get discouraged because it’s easy to see others and believe youre not as good as them, but you have to do your own thing and you have to keep improving and working on yourself.” Even with nothing big influencing him to play soccer, he still tries his hardest and does his best.

With a few major accomplishments for the team such as their extreme determination this season as their coach spoke on how they constantly try their hardest even when things aren’t in their favor, this determination seems to be serving them well and hopefully their momentum keeps them going.

They were one game away from making the conference tournament and they’ve made it, hopefully this tournament will allow them to prove their ability to play hard and win. Last season for the boys soccer team was described positively by their coach as she said “last season was a good season for us, I’d say we were successful in keeping the program to its  expectation of playing good soccer, keeping good sportsmanship, having good comradery on the team.”

Comparing this year’s season similarly, Coach Silenok describes this season with statements such as, “good leadership, making good mentality improvements, and still playing competitive soccer.” Both seasons seem to be similar but this season seems to be  going rather positively. With a positive look for them making it into the state tournament, the boys soccer team of UHSSE has a good coach, good captains, and amazing team members.

Coach nicole silenok seems to be a great fit for the team with her referring to past experience with playing soccer. With a coaching style based on honesty, she keeps things blunt and straightforward and refrains from sugarcoating things. During a practice session Coach Silenok spoke about how they practice based on their next game and what to look forward to, practice makes perfect and if they keep their win streak university high school can look forward to their boys soccer team making it to the state tournament.

Editor’s note: The team has qualified for the CIAC Class L tournament with a record of 7-8-1.