The boys soccer team will play its district opener against Coppell on Jan. 21 at 4:30 p.m. at Cowboy Stadium.
The Hawks completed their non-district season on Jan. 17 with a 4-1 record. The team ended last year’s district season in second place with a record of 9-2-3, above Coppell who finished third with a record of 8-3-3.
“Coppell is known to be a [strong] opponent,” head coach Mathew Zimmerman said. “We know that they’re in the upper echelon as possible district front runners, so I’m excited [to see] if the boys can bring themselves up to the occasion.”
Last season, the Hawks competed against the Cowboys twice, winning and tying once each.
“When you look at it on paper, we look outmatched,” Zimmerman said. “But I know what [our] guys can do when we play together and to our full ability. Outside of Marcus, you might be looking at the two best teams in the district [between us and Coppell.]”
The Hawks last game was against Bowie High School on Jan. 17, which they won 3-1. The game was not originally on the schedule, but was added to give the team more preparation going into the district season.
“The goal we conceded [against Bowie] was just a regular mistake,” midfielder Michael Hernandez said. “The amount of chances that we got going toward the goal was very good, but [we had] a problem where we didn’t have the ability to finish [all] the chances that we created.”
Coppell has started the season 4-1 in non-district play. Although it is early in the season, striker Ezra Cryer said some of them are familiar with the opponents due to playing with them in club soccer.
“We know Coppell is going to be a good team,” Cryer said. “We’ve played against them for the last four years as we’ve been going through JV and varsity. We’re ready to play a good game.”
In addition, Zimmerman said he wants to focus on playing on a high level throughout the game instead of playing down to the opponent like they have in previous games.
“We’d like to think of ourselves as a top three team,” Zimmerman said. “We’re going to have to prove it right away at the beginning of the season because we start with Coppell, Marcus and Guyer. That stretch right there is going to test us in the first week and a half [of district.]”
