On Tuesday, Jan. 22, the varsity men’s soccer team outplayed the Manor Mustangs in their second district game of the season, ending the game with a score of 3-2. With the opening whistle, the crowd knew it was going to be an intense and electrifying game as the Warriors started with the ball against the previously undefeated Mustangs.

“It could go either way, but I was looking for another win today,” Rodrigo Garcia ‘26 said. “We lost [when we played them last year], but I think we can turn that around. I think we’ve made a lot of improvements. We’ve been working on being better at working as a team and communicating with each other on the field.”

With the Mustangs starting the half with control of the opening tip, the match quickly became a fierce battle that ended with the Warriors rapidly surrounding the Manor players, creating a barricade and making a lane for their strikers. Following an interception by Nolan Loftin ‘26 and a quick exchange back and forth with Valentin Lobos ‘26, the Warriors swiftly made their way down the field with possession on offense. Eventually, with a pass to Caleb Fagan ‘25 who took a missed shot and sent the ball out of bounds on the end of the first drive.

Soon, the Warriors created intense pressure on the Mustangs’ defense. With Rahul Kuthiala’s ‘25 relentless attempted shots and Lobos’ assertive headers, the crowd was electrified, leaving them unsure of how the next few minutes of the game would play out. The Warriors’ high-speed thinking facilitated a transition play, involving Charles Walker ‘27 who was able to pass to Ishaan Saini ‘26 to set up a goalie punt for better field position. 

Even in the first 10 minutes of the game, Lobos, Saini, and Loftin had already made a name for themselves with many essential assists and plays. But after the excitement of the game began to wear off, the Warriors began to get into a rut, with the Mustangs passing the ball around them. Eventually, it became clear that the ball was traveling between the two teams, with neither team holding possession of the ball for too long. At this point in the game, Walker proved himself to be an essential player who was always on the lookout and open for someone to pass to.

Recovering from the mid-half lull, the Warriors began to take hold of the game passing over the Manor Mustangs’ heads. With less than 25 minutes left in the half, after a quick drive downfield, Kuthiala launched himself toward the goal, hammering in the first point of the game for the Warriors.

“It [felt] good [scoring], I missed a chance earlier so it was nice to make up for it but the most important thing is that we won,” Kuthiala said. 

The last part of the first half was jam-packed with intensity after Kuthiala’s goal brought everyone’s spirits up. For the rest of the half, the Warriors’ goalie had a slew of saves that kept Westwood in the lead. As the intensity of the game ramped up, so did the physicality, resulting in a few missed calls against the Mustangs, causing a new sense of concern. In the last minutes of the half, Fagan found himself alone with the other team’s keeper, setting himself up for the goal and nothing but success, however, the Ref’s whistle stopped his shot short. Continuing a streak of Mustang aggression, Kaz Seyhoon ‘26 was shoved, but fortunately for the Warriors, he was awarded with a penalty shot. And after an intense moment of focus, Seyhoon made the goal, bringing the Warriors into a massive 2-0 lead heading into halftime. However, in the Mustangs’ last ditch attempt to dig themselves out of their rut, Manor scored with under a minute left in the first half, forcing tWarriors to regroup during halftime and find a better defensive strategy to make sure the gap in the score didn’t close anymore than it already had. 

“I think it was a good first half, [I wish we] would’ve finished a couple more goals to really solidify the lead though,” Seyhoon said. 

The second half began with the Warriors kicking off, bringing the same passion and power with them that they had in the first, but now with more motivation in order to ensure their lead over the Mustangs. For a while, Westwood stayed on the defensive, keeping the Mustangs from scoring with Zach Shaddock’s ‘25 precision through the half. With repeated high intensity plays, the boys had even more energy to bring everything they had to the game. This energy translated into a pass from Loftin, which let the Warriors break away, electrifying the crowd and players. Now with the Warriors in their groove, they looked to score. However, this was short lived as the Mustangs scored, bringing the game to a tie. 

“We had a game plan going into [the game]. We lost our lead which wasn’t ideal, but we came back so it was a good performance,” Kuthiala said. “I think especially in response after we conceded two goals, we were able to keep our heads and then create chances and we still ended up winning the game which was good.”

After the Mustang’s goal, the game stagnated as neither team could keep control of the ball long enough to score.  Soon, with 10 minutes left in the game, Seyhoon was able to maneuver around his defenders and fire in his second career district goal, and the winning game point. Rushing onto the field, his teammates piled onto him in celebration as the crowd erupted in cheers. Now, in the lead, the Warriors’ main goal was just to kill the clock and not let the other team catch up. 

“I think how we scored our last goal [was how we’ve] been practicing a lot.” Seyhoon said. “[We scored] by crossing it and then playing it back across the ball “We’ve been practicing that a lot. Just to execute that in the game [was] nice. We try to [waste time on purpose sometimes once we’re in the lead], we have a saying to slow down the game and just waste time, kind of like football.”

With three minutes left on the clock, you could see both coaches and teams tense up with anticipation. The Manor efforts eventually came to a head as they had one last throw in. Failing on their offensive push, the game ended with the Warriors swarming to defend the goal. In their successful final stand, the Warriors emerged from the game up 3-2, putting them 3-0 for the season. Overall, the Warriors dominated while pushing through below freezing temperatures. 

The varsity boys soccer team will take on the Hutto Hippos on Friday, Jan. 24, at Hutto High School, at 7:30 p.m.