From the pitch to the classroom, the Fluvanna County boys’ soccer teams are hoping to excel this spring. The varsity boys ended the season last spring with a 4-12 record and they are looking to improve from that this season. “We only lost two players last year so we have the same team for the most part, which should help out with the team chemistry,” said sophomore Matt Rafaly. “A 10-4-2 season would be ideal. We’re looking to make major improvements and this is the best year to do it,” said varsity goalkeeper Tyler Marshall.

The varsity team managed to get a few wins under their belts but the JV team didn’t. The team did not win a single game last year and ended with a record of 0-9-4, twice tying with the Louisa Lions, with whom the boys have a bit of bad blood. “I want to beat Louisa more than any team because they bad-mouth our team,” said former JV player Noah Coppa. The JV Flucos are hoping to become more competitive with the Lions in the new season.

Preseason workouts have already started for the teams in the form of indoor soccer a few nights a week, and players are getting a preview of how the teams are shaping up. “We’ve been conditioning and just trying to get everyone together and getting everyone familiar with each other. Team chemistry means a lot to us. The more chemistry we have, the more games we’ll win,” said senior Hunter Deforge regarding the varsity team. ”The [JV] team is looking good but still needs some improvement,” said Coppa.

Varsity’s major competitors in the Jefferson District are likely to be Charlottesville, Western Albemarle, and Albemarle, all of which made the state playoffs last season. Albemarle was even the runner-up in the state championship game. A few of the varsity players have said that this season is going to be different. “We’ll be better,” said junior Carter Allbaugh. “We’re a familiar team; we also have a secret weapon coming back this season: Hunter [Deforge].” Deforge was out last season recovering from an ACL surgery. He played varsity soccer during the 2013 season, so he has some experience at such a high level.

According to some, the team’s main problem in the 2014 season was the amount of new players. “We basically had to start over. We had a completely brand-new team compared to the year before,” said Marshall. But that will not be the case this season with only two players graduating last year.

As for JV, last year’s team only included 11 members, meaning that they had no subs—not a good situation for a soccer team. But according to Coppa, that should not be a problem this season. “There’s more players trying out and the players that played last year have gotten a lot better, so the team should be overall better,” he said.

One thing that has stayed the same over the past few years for varsity is Head Coach Earl Gibson. He has been around for four seasons and plans to make this the best season yet. The JV team will start with a new coach: varsity football coach and assistant varsity basketball coach Jason Davis. Davis said he aims to focus on “individual work on the technical aspects of the game.” “If we don’t have good touch and the ability to move the ball effectively as individuals, then the other parts of our team will suffer.  Collectively, we must work to improve soccer IQ,” Davis said.