After a few setbacks, the soccer season is underway.

Due to COVID-19 issues, the varsity team has already had to quarantine twice this season.   

Head coach Chris Krueger said, “My initial thoughts were, ‘I hope that this virus doesn’t hurt these kids and their families that are testing positive’… And I just hope this doesn’t force our season to be canceled.”  

After sports were canceled this spring, some players expected a similar outcome this season.

Senior Eli Dunmire said, “I thought that they would just cancel our season because we had to miss practices a couple of times prior to the whole team quarantining. I was also thinking about the games that we would miss, and how it would affect the start of our season. We were two weeks behind the teams we would be playing, and it would cause us to come out flat.”

While on quarantine, the team completed virtual practices. This allowed the team to play soon after they returned to school.

Krueger said, “I was really anxious because it just didn’t feel right, not playing any games for five weeks.  Now that we are back to a normal routine, I don’t put much thought into it.  This last 1.5 weeks has felt the most normal to me, since February, and I just hope that we can continue in this new normal without any more setbacks that are COVID-19 related.”

The Owls are 2-1 on the season. They play at 5pm today at Festus.

Head Coach Krueger said, “I think the more that we practice and play, the better it will get.  It takes time to build up your strength such as conditioning, ball touches, mental preparation, etc.  So the more days that we are allowed to experience practices/games, the better it will be.” 

The Class of 2021 went into their senior year with a significant amount of uncertainty.

Senior Luke Longtin said, “I went into the year thinking I wasn’t going to play, so I wouldn’t be disappointed. But if I actually didn’t have a season, I would have been so upset because I just spent the past three years training for this year to be my best year and if that got taken away from me, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Although the team has been through a lot this season, they are ready for everything to be in the past. 

Head Coach Krueger said, “The biggest thing is just focusing on the next day and that particular week.  Trying not to look past the short term because things can change so fast.   Our motto has been, ‘It is, what it is.’ With this motto, it allows us to continue to move forward with whatever is thrown at us.”