By Simeon Wickli, Middle School soccer coach

We have a great group of girls and boys on the Middle School soccer team! The coaching staff (David Graydon and myself) have been quite pleased with our players, how they have played, and the hard work and dedication they have shown us.

Without a single training session before or between our first four games, we came out with four great game results. One game in particular we were quite proud of was our last game against Real Life Academy where we came back from 2-0 down to win 4-2. Coach David and I had discussed before the game what we thought would happen based on our players' attitude while warming up. Our players looked like they were probably thinking they would win for sure since they had beaten Real Life in the second game of the season quite comfortably, 6-0. While our players may have been relaxing, Real Life Academy wasn't going to let this one go so easy. You could see by their warm up they were hungry for the win, whereas by the looks of our warmup, we made it seem like it was just another game that we would easily win. At halftime we were losing 2-0.

Me and Coach David's halftime speech was quite simple - we said that we were not surprised by the score at the half based on their attitude and focus in the warmup and that collectively as a team we needed to change that. We explained that you cannot simply show up to a game and expect to win. We had the quality of players needed to win but we were lacking the passion. We made a few subs, told them some tactical advice and things to look out for, and asked them to show us what they were made of in the next half. And that is exactly what they did! The second half of the game was completely different. We ended up winning the game 4-2.

I would be remiss to not mention Real Life Academy and the great squad they have. We're excited to take them on again sometime!

Coach David and I are very proud of how our team took it upon themselves to change the situation they were in and fight back to win. Even if we hadn't won that game, I would take them playing with that kind of passion, determination and teamwork any day.

We are excited for the rest of the season with these girls and boys, and hopefully we can keep the win streak alive. Go, Eagles!

You can catch the Middle School soccer team at these upcoming games:

• 9/20 Home vs Hampden DeBose 
• 9/21 Home vs St. Paul
• 9/26 Away vs First Academy Leesburg
• 10/5 Home vs Adventure Christian
• 10/10 Away vs Faith Lutheran 
• 10/12 Away vs St. Paul
• 10/23 & 10/24 HOME TCCL Tournament