By MIA DELMONICO

On Saturday Feb. 22 the Redlands East Valley High School boys soccer team competed against Santiago High School in the semi- final round of the California Interscholastic Federation. With a last minute goal by REV senior Luca Russo, resulting from a miscommunication between Santiago center defender and Santiago goalkeeper, the REV boys varsity soccer team advanced to the final round of CIF. 

Russo stated that “it was a great feeling scoring in overtime to win that game.” He recalled that they “didn’t play [their] best but nobody gave up.” He feels that this is one of the main aspects that “shows hot truly great this team is.” He believes that if they continue to play like they have all season in the final game, they will come out victorious in the final. 

After a successful season in the Citrus Belt League, the boys varsity soccer team reigned victorious and secured the title of CBL champions. They went on to win every game following this title and hope to become state champions with a victory over North Torrance High School on Saturday Feb.29. 

Senior forward Sam Pister explained that at the beginning of the season the team “had two goals–to win league and CIF playoffs.” He added that they were “always shooting for a ring.” The team feels that they have in fact “accomplished [their] goal of winning league and that [they] are one step away from completing the goal of being CIF champions.” 

As the season progressed, they faced struggles as any group working toward such a rigorous goal would. Pister felt “the biggest struggle as the season progressed was taking it one game at a time.” He expressed that in the excitement and long duration of league they “at times looked too far ahead of what [they] could accomplish.” Despite this, he feels that they were able to “overcome that and are a better team because of it.”

The team prepared for the CIF final by “working hard at training and games” almost every day. Pister added that “every training session has been an opportunity for [them] to grow and better prepare [themselves] to reach [their] goal.”

Looking toward the end of the postseason, he stated that being a part of REV soccer is “an experience you wouldn’t want to miss.” He also said that it entails not only working to grow individually, but also working to improve for the team. Pister feels that “REV soccer is a family and [he] is blessed to have been a part of it.”

Featured Image: The Redlands East Valley boys varsity soccer players and coaches pose together on the Santiago High School fields, after their victory on Feb. 22, 2020. (Photo credit to Sam Pister)