The junior varsity season might only be five weeks long, and there might only be nine games to prove yourself, but the bonds formed between the players will last a lifetime.

Let’s dive into a recap of the 2021 junior varsity boys soccer season.

The season started with a tough away game against the Seneca Valley Screamin’ Eagles.  A 3-1 loss left JV developing their communication skills and teamwork.

“We started [the season] off very individually, but that’s not how you play the sport,” junior Jacob Lainez said.

JV then faced the Wooten Patriots at home. A first half shootout opened the scoring accounts for sophomores Nathan Mbah and Pablo Muralles, but a late Patriot goal and a goalless overtime meant that both schools had to share the spoils and the ‘Rines were still left without a win.

“We saw that if we were gonna win as a team, we need to be able to talk to each other more and be on the same mental slate,” freshman Hector Olivia said.

JV stayed at home for the next game against the Springbrook Blue Devils. Six different scorers, including the first of the season for junior Victor Quacoe and acrobatic saves from Hector Olivia gave JV a historic 8-0 victory.

“We didn’t expect to win by so many but we never doubted ourselves,” sophomore Zimani Munthali said.

Dominoes began to fall for JV as their next game at the Rockville Rams ended in another big 5-2 win. A debut goal from Lainez and an astonishing quadruple from Mbah gave JV a positive record for the first time this season.

“After the [Springbrook] game, we all saw the potential we had, so that gave us the motivation to work even harder in practice and to use that practice to win more games,” Hector Olivia added.

The next two games were more of the same, wins against the Damascus Hornets and the Poolesville Falcons. Firsts of the season for Sam Cisneros and Derek Cabezas against Poolesville and two more goals for Mbah against Damascus kept the win-streak going.

The fun had to end sometime, and that time was against the Kennedy Cavaliers. Even with goals from Mbah and freshman Allen Olivia, the Cavalier attack was too much to handle and the night ended in a 3-2 loss.

With two games left in the season there was still everything to play for, but a nail-biting 0-0 draw against the Northwest Jaguars wasn’t what JV was looking for.

In the final game of the season JV went head-to-head with the Magruder Colonels, who were undefeated. An early Colonel goal didn’t stop JV from pushing back, eventually going into the second half leading 3-1 thanks to goals from Anderson Lopez, Derek Cabezas, and Zikani Munthali. Defensive instructions from Head Coach Bryan Lanham had fans on the edge of their seats, but the JV bench ran onto the field at the final whistle, winning 3-2.

“Coach Lanham is always pushing us to the best of our abilities on and off the field. As for my teammates? Every single goal I scored I owe to them. I couldn’t have wished for a better team,” Mbah said.