Men’s soccer remains unbeaten after west coast trip

Team captain Kyle Porter (senior) kicks the ball during the game against Hardin-Simmons University on Sept. 8. Photo by Anh-Viet Dinh.

Trinity’s top-ranked men’s soccer team finished a tough, West Coast road trip with a 1-1 tie against Redlands and a 2-0 win over #17 Claremont.

“We keep a number of team goals. One of them is to win every game 3-0. We didn’t get that this weekend, but our broader goals are to win every game, win Texas, win the region, get to the playoffs, and win the playoffs as well. This went along with our goal of winning the region. The main reason we went to California was to play two highly ranked teams in our region. This really helps us on our path to winning the region,” said senior midfielder Michael Micheletti.

The Redlands game was a physical battle in which Trinity came back thanks to a late goal by Micheletti. The trip gave the Tigers an advantage within the West Region as they look to compete for an NCAA championship.

“Playing on the road was rougher than I expected, but it was a good experience. Redlands was similar to a playoff or tournament game. I’ve experienced playoffs twice in my Trinity career and that’s what it was like. The way the game was played by both sides was tough, very physical. They didn’t allow you to have the ball for more than three seconds at a time,” said junior midfielder Yuri Ribeiro.

Trinity locked in its fourth shutout of the season against Claremont and the team has given up only four goals through its first seven games.

“The key has been hard work and being focused on defense. We have great players at every position, but what has made us better defensively has been our hard work, being focused, getting numbers to the ball, and getting a one on one attack,” said sophomore midfielder Simon Uribe.

The team now prepares for home games against their first two conference opponents of the season. They will first face the University of Dallas at 6 PM on Friday, Sep. 21 and then Colorado College at noon on Sunday, Sep. 23. After two days of rest upon their return, the team returned to practice in order to get prepared for this weekend. Ribeiro is confident in the team’s chances at the conference title.

“We truly believe we can win the conference. We didn’t last year after winning it my freshman year. We were really disappointed for not winning the conference title. I believe we had some problems which caused us to lose in the semifinal against Centre. This year, everyone is closer, more positive, and I really think we can win,” said Ribeiro.