The Seven Lakes varsity soccer team without a doubt put up one of the best seasons it’s ever had in school history. They dominated the competition in the district and even made State for the first time. This group of 25 individuals who played their hearts out put in their all and it paid off in every way for them. But their success from this season was not done there.

Since making State, the soccer team is ranked #4 in the state, #2 in Division 6A, and #1 in Houston. They were unstoppable and were able to to prove that were also the were #1 in the district, dominating in each game they played and their competition with an overall record of 21-2-3. Leading the way for the soccer team is star player Javier Rivas, senior midfielder, who didn’t just lead his team but was also one of the fiercest competitors of it. 

“I knew I wanted to be a leader and I learned a lot from when I was a sophomore on varsity,” Rivas said. “I made sure to try to take that in and help the younger guys and just have the goal of leading this group into a place we’ve never been.”

In the district Seven Lakes dominated their competition with their district record of 8-1-3. They shut down and beat every team in the district during the regular season except for Taylor. Taylor, who had a rocky start at the start of their district season losing 4 of their first 5, eventually bounced back, becoming a big threat for Seven Lakes, and beating them 3-1. That was the only loss Seven Lakes would take during the regular season.

However, that loss did not stop the soccer team. They only had one thing in mind, and that was to go to State – something that was not done before this year. Making State was a big deal to the team, especially the seniors. This strong team didn’t just beat Tompkins once this season, but twice. Just after losing playoffs last season in the regional quarterfinals, Seven Lakes bounced back huge this season. Right after beating Tompkins, they only had one team in the district to beat in the playoffs- Taylor.

“We had to stop their long throwing,” junior forward Hunter Merritt said. “We worked on that in practice and knew that they were a big physical team; so we were worried about [them].” 

Coming into the Taylor playoff match, the soccer team knew they wanted to beat them. During their match, sophomore midfielder Aiden Morrison, who came back from injury, kicked a free kick goal that helped Seven Lakes win, shutting down Taylor and sending them home. From that moment forward, the mission to the State Finals was on for Seven Lakes.

“Free kicks are part of my game and I love practicing them,” Morrison said. “I just knew I had to relax, concentrate, and execute”

The soccer team had one more match to make it to the State semifinals and what stood in their way was Cy-Creek. Early in their match, Seven Lakes led 1-0 from a goal by Rivas in the first half but still had a lot left to play. Following that Cy-Creek took the lead and the soccer team was in danger. Only down by one, Daniel Ejerenewa tied the game with a header and sent the game to overtime. Later Rivas would come up clutch, scoring his second goal of the game winning the game 3-2 and sending Seven Lakes to the semifinals.

“We had to equalize and keep our heads in the game because we knew we had twenty minutes left,” Ejerenewa said. “There’s three minutes left in the game before it would have been decided on penalties, and when that ball went in, I just felt relief throughout,” Rivas said.

The State semifinals came upon and Seven Lakes was close to history. Unfortunately though the soccer team would fall short of the finals and lose to Plano 3-2. That loss that sent them home, didn’t mean that the team would not stop there. They came home as winners, the best of the district, and Top 4 in the state. This soccer season has been by far the best one in the history of Seven Lakes and they hope to repeat their success even better next year.