This season, KCA’s Varsity soccer team worked hard to rebuild a team that would be able to

competitively perform against some powerful opponents. With 14 boys and only 4 girls on the team, the beginning of the season proved to be difficult.

The defining moment of the season happened during an away game against Riverdale and in the events that followed. Due to one controversial call by the referee, KCA ended up losing a penalty kick and lost momentum throughout the rest of the game, resulting in a 2-0 loss. Four days later, however, the team faced off against Riverdale once more, this time on their home turf. “That game was the most exciting game of the season and the team pulled out the best offensive performance of the season in a 4-3 win,” Head Coach Mark Lindgren stated.

After the Riverdale victory, the team was able to continue improving. Coach Lindgren hopes to continue to do so in the future by continuing to “build a strong soccer culture where we pride ourselves for our performance on the field” and by encouraging more students to invest in soccer, so that KCA can compete more seriously for the MISAL Championship each year.

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A few noteworthy players from the 2019 season include Cedric Sobola, a senior, who won 1st Team All-League for the MISAL league and Team MVP, and Kyle Waller, also a senior, who won 2nd Team All-League and Most Inspirational. Lindgren called Cedric “the engine of our team”and said Kyle was one he could “always count on to speak up and lead his teammates.”

Coach’s award went to two of the four females on the team, Hannah Brown, who was “a freshman girl playing significant minutes every single game in a varsity guys league”, and Siera Kerley, a senior whose “spirits stayed high even when everyone else’s was low, including her coach.” Ethan Tobler, a junior, and Brandon Pullias, a sophomore, received Defensive and Offensive MVP, respectively.

Junior Robby Campbell, after returning from a bad injury incurred in the year before, received Most Improved. Coach Lindgren said, “We knew from the beginning that Fall 2019 was going to be a rebuilding season, but it gave the soccer program an excellent foundation to build on and provided some great memories to motivate us to greater success in 2021.