STC Senior Amare Chavez holds strong on defense for the Trojans, forcing a pass back out to the opposing side.

With several weeks of practice and gameplay under their belt, the South Tama boys soccer team is now fully into the 2024 season. The season got off to a tough start as the Trojans went up against good conference competition, posting losses against Marion, Independence, Grinnell, and Williamsburg.

But the losing streak quickly turned around on April 15 when South Tama took the long trip to Manchester to take on West Delaware. South Tama was able to get goals from sophomores Ramiro Saquic and Jair Martinez, while the improved Trojans defense also stood strong to boost STC to the 2-1 victory.

With the first win of the season under their belt, South Tama looked to carry the momentum into their next game at home against the Solon Spartans. In this game, the Trojans were able to get good production from their young players early, sophomores Cole Gustafson and Ramiro Saquic were able to score goals for South Tama which got them out to a 2-0 lead over the Spartans. But the main story of the game was the South Tama defense that was able to keep the ball out of their side of the field effectively to hold Solon to zero points on the night. Freshman Eli Cruikshank was able to help secure the victory for STC as he scored a goal to increase the lead to 3-0. As the game went on, time quickly started to run out on the Spartans and eventually the Trojans were able to hold onto their lead for the first home win of the season.

After the game, senior Amare Chavez talked about the win.

“Our win over Solon felt pretty great overall, all the boys played really great soccer and are showing improvements for sure,” he said. “We used communication and good passing skills throughout the game, and a win like this will give a big confidence boost to everyone.”

Freshman Manuel Cervantes battles for the ball during Monday’s competition against Gladbrook-Reinbeck. In the end, South Tama would lose 5-2.

Chavez ended by stating something he’s looking forward to for the rest of the season.

“I hope everyone on the team can have fun and just enjoy the game of soccer as the season keeps going forward,” he said.