As the school year begins, so do many of Benilde-St. Margaret’s fall activities. Several of the BSM sports teams are hoping to improve on previously strong seasons, one of them being the Varsity boys’ soccer team. After a heartbreaking end to the season last year against Section 5A rival Breck, the team is looking to take it to make it to the State Tournament.

The season has already begun and progress is already being made. “The season is going pretty good so far, we are 2-1 at the moment, but we beat our biggest rival Breck,” junior Will Driessen said. Beating Breck early in the year gives the team a confidence boost.

Along with this boost of confidence, the team already has a closer bond than teams of previous years. “I think that our team has a really strong bond. This past Labor Day weekend we took a trip to Camp Voyager, which is near Ely, Minnesota. We really got to know each other and spent a lot of time together,” junior Thomas Forby said. This attitude is expressed by the captains as well. “When we went up north, we sat around the campfire and just talked to each other and connected and we figured out what we want to accomplish, which is something the team never did last year,” senior captain Santi Lambert said.

The team is hoping its strong line-up across the field will help contribute to their success. “The team has a really good defense and the midfield is looking pretty strong,” Lambert said. The team’s style of play is also an advantage going into the year. “Our [playing style] is really quick and strong, passes are also crisp, and the defense is solid,” Driessen said. With the strong play and even stronger bond off the field, the team has lofty expectations. “Some of the main goals are winning our Section, and advancing to State at [US Bank Stadium],” Forby said.