SMHS BOYS SOCCER
Breaking a 15-year playoff drought and hosting their first ever playoff game, the San Marcos Rattlers are back and are wanting to push the program to new heights.
Following the success of last season, Head Coach Cornado Reyes has seen an explosion of students wanting to join the soccer team.
“San Marcos typically only has a varsity and a JV team,” Reyes said. “This year, we have a JV white and a JV purple. The want to play is here in San Marcos. I had 135 kids sign up last year for soccer. I believe we had 148 [players] that I started off with this year.
“The kids want to be part of the program, and the program continues to grow. … The want to play soccer in San Marcos is most definitely there, and the community support is also there which has been awesome.”
The Rattlers retain the majority of the roster from last season, including District 27 Defensive MVP Victor Cruz.
With an experienced roster and new expectations, Reyes put together a tough non-district schedule with the Rattlers facing Austin Westlake, Lake Travis, Belton, Rockwall Heath, Mesquite Poteet and Lewisville.
“We kept the main core group of guys intact that didn’t graduate,” Reyes said. “We have very many starters, and we are looking to carry on the momentum from last year [after] breaking that 15 year playoff drought into this year. We put a really tough schedule together in the beginning, and we are playing some really good teams this year.”
While the Rattlers defense has been successful, the focus during the offseason was improving their offense.
“Our main focus was our attacking portion of our game,” Reyes said. “We’re really solid on defense. We had the defensive MVP of the district last year Victor Cruz, and he returned this year. We’re pretty solid on defense, but our main focus was really trying to find a goal score to help us finish up and continue on with winning in the final third.”
In the first three games of the season, the Rattlers faced tough competition in their games against Rockwall Heath, Mesquite Poteet and Lewisville. Despite losing all three games, though the Rattlers took Rockwall Heath into penalty kicks, Reyes has seen improvement from last year’s team.
“The communication has been really strong,” Reyes said. “ A big part of soccer is communication on the field, and I’ve noticed we’ve been able to communicate very well. We haven’t been able to find the back of the net in the last three games, but we’re improving on the attacking portion. We’re getting a lot more shots on goal, but we’re right where we need to be.”
Elements Reyes wants to see the Rattlers improve upon throughout the next three games is possession and breaking opposing defenses.
“Just being able to possess the ball more, being able to break lines and move the ball forward,” Reyes said. “We’re right where we need to be. Going into district with our [non-district schedule], we are playing really solid teams. [They are] top 15-20 teams in the state. But yeah, we’ll be ready by the time we get to the district.”
With the expectations of competing for playoffs and a district title, the Rattlers are leaning on unification to push forward through a tough non-district schedule and into district play.
“We adopted the motto this year that together we win, and it’s all about unity,” Reyes said. “The more we stick together, the more we communicate, the more we fight for one another, the outcome is gonna be that one that we want. So that’s how we have to push these guys through, falling back on our motto when things aren’t going our way.”
With the Rattlers breaking their playoff drought and an increase in the number of students joining the team, Reyes believes that program is heading in the right direction.
“It just shows that we’re doing things right,” Reyes said. “The kids want to be part of winning programs. Kids want to be part of programs where they feel they are wanted, and they’re accepted. That speaks highly of the programs that we have growing here at San Marcos High School.
“The baseball team normally has really high numbers, and [they are] really successful. It’s all about the culture that you produce and create within your programs, which makes kids want to be a part of that.”
The Rattlers will play their first home game Friday, Jan. 17 against Lake Travis. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
