The GCS soccer team scored a victory at their first regular season game on March 4. GCS finished with a 3-1 win against the BGA varsity soccer team; two goals were scored by number 20, Reece Rector, and one goal by number 27, Reed Smith.
“The BGA game was a dog fight, and very painful because I got a really bad calf cramp and I was screaming,” Junior Matthew Bessling said. Besling assisted eighth-grader, Smith in scoring the team’s third in-season goal.
Since March 4, the varsity soccer team has played four more games, winning all four.
“I thought BGA was a really good start to the season. There were lots of slide tackles from Mathew and me,” junior Danny Zubillaga said. “I am most excited for senior night because this is my last year playing on the team. I’ll be too old to play with the school again next year,” said Zubillaga.
On March 7, the varsity soccer team got their second win of the season when playing Greenbrier; it ended with a 4-1 win for the Cougars. On March 10 varsity got another win on the record against East Robertson– the final score being 8-0 Cougars.
The varsity boys then went on to play Springfield High School on March 14, winning 3-1. Following that, they faced Brentwood Academy and ended the game tied at 0-0, but they played Brentwood’s varsity right after, winning 2-1.
“My goals for my last year are to win Districts, get to Regionals, and keep clean sheets,” Zubillaga said. “Clean sheets” in soccer is a term for not letting opposing teams score on your team’s goal.
Both varsity and junior varsity teams leave for a tournament in Gatlinburg Tennessee this Thursday. They will play three tournament games on March 27-29.
“A tradition we do as a team is when we put our hands in the middle to break down we always say bang,” Blessing said, “I don’t know what it means but we say it.”
Owen Hartman, a first-year freshman, shared that he likes the people on the team with him and he is working hard to achieve his goal to start on varsity next year.
“My favorite part of being a soccer manager is watching the team tackle people and staying connected to soccer even while I am not the one playing,” junior Andrea Solomon said. Solomon is in her first year as manager.
Although the soccer team does not have team captains, they do have a leadership team. Representatives from each grade work together to lead the team. The 2025 leadership team consists of Hudson Roller, Sean Youngers, Connor Bell, Allen Gore, Ethan Johnson, and Ryder Sandford.
“This is my second year and my goal is to get an offer to play in college at ETSU,” sophomore, Ethan Johnson said.
“Season is going good, practices are great. I’ve had a lot of assists,” third-year veteran Raiden Vue said. “My favorite memory is the freshman year Alabama trip where I got to play mini golf with the team and they jumped in a pond.”
