The goals they just keep on coming

The Trojans boys soccer team has changed more than just the coach. They have a complete new system of playing and a whole new attitude, which has them already ahead of last year’s 3-10 record. The boys are now officially 4-1 on the year with a 3-0 league record.

They started last week in conference play against Adelson and defeated them 10-2 at Adelson. On Thursday, the team came home and beat Meadows 6-0 and faced Cheyenne on Monday.

In their latest win the boys out-played Cheyenne in a shootout 9-1. It was 4-1 at the half.

Trojans Coach Don Boulden has truly “emboldened” his team to play better. Junior player Nick Nelson has been a leader and a top player for the Trojans for the past couple of years. He believes the team is on the right track.

“Our major thing to change this year was our attitude towards each other as a team. Last year and the year before I realized we argued a lot as a team and it always brings us down. We are trying to change that this year. We are changing our playing style and form; so far it is working pretty good. We are starting a new system and we are trying to pick up on that and get better. Our passing is better, and we are learning to control the ball better,” Nelson said.

Boulden, who is coming back to the team after seven years, believes his changes have done the team some good.

“The miracle took place at the scrimmage with Arbor View. From that point on, we have laid down the law against negative comments and swearing on the field,” he said. “If it happens they get coaches challenges. They catch each other now. They have caught on quickly. This has turned into a team where they praise the JV refs who helped out at Arbor View and they have been applauding the audience in the stands. This has become a new tradition and they started it. They have come up with a new chant and they are following through. This has been an awesome thing to watch. I have said what a champion athlete was and attitude is the biggest thing. Attitude determines your altitude and coupled with a few motivational things like that I think the team is getting it.”

In the past three games, the Trojans have dominated the field. They have scored at will and have been able to run their new possession game. The team has exhibited great speed and talent on the field. During the last three games the Trojans spent the majority of the time on the opponent’s side of the field.

After the Meadows game, Boulden said he was satisfied with the way things were progressing on the field.

“The game was mostly our possession game. We probably played a better possession game here against Meadows. We had a better tempo against Meadows. Adelson was much more of an aggressive team. They had bigger bodies and a faster team. Our team rose to the challenge. Here we were allowed to play at our own pace rather than having to meet someone else’s pace and tempo,” he said.

After the team tied Boulder City 5-5, Boulden changed the offensive system and tweaked the practice a bit. The team had a week before they started league so the coach put the time to good use.

“Coming into Adelson we were prepared with a new system. We stepped up our conditioning and have been conditioning for a minimum of 35 minutes of practice every day. I think there is evidence of that in the last two games as well. I am pleased the way they have adapted to the new system of play. You can already see the difference in conditioning,” he said.

The team passing has improved, translating into 25 points in the last three games.

During the Cheyenne game, the boys were full of hustle and really paid attention to detail. A good example of the team’s hustle came on a penalty kick after one of the Trojans was tripped. The team scored on the kick because they reacted quickly to the opposing goalie that was not paying attention.

“They got the foul. It was a direct free kick which means it doesn’t have to touch anybody before going into the goal. The goalkeeper was way out and I saw this. The penalty was not a stoppage of play. So play was continuous. I told my player to kick the ball because the goalie was so far away and he scored and they were totally caught unawares,” Boulden said.

In this game, Nolan Toomer was just unstoppable and led the team with 3 goals.

The Trojans travel to Mojave on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.