While the Laquey Hornets did not walk away with the state soccer championship, the ability to be a part of the Final Four weekend is one that they will remember for years to come.
While the Laquey Hornets did not walk away with the state soccer championship, the ability to be a part of the Final Four weekend is one that they will remember for years to come.
The Laquey Soccer team made program history as it walked away a part of the Final Four for Class 1 in the State of Missouri. Back in his second year, Coach Aaron Their along with Assistant Coach Jason Larson, had their standards set high. The 2023 soccer team had to rally after losing 10 seniors in the 2022 season and find their new identity. The team is sophomore heavy and really leaned on their seniors, Ethan Larson, Tristen Carriger, Donivan Mathis and Matthew Mendoza to help them find that. While the beginning of the season was a bit rocky, the second half of the season, the team was able to find their rhythm and get into a groove of trusting one another and playing connected soccer to find that success.
While the Hornets did not walk away with the state championship, the ability to be a part of the Final Four weekend is one that they will remember for years to come. The big lesson for the team from this weekend was being able to work through adversity. Five minutes into the Hornets’first match of the weekend, keeper Jesse Tanner came out of the game after a collision with an opposing player left him with a cut in the eyebrow and a swelling eye. The Hornets had to make adjustments to theirplay, andlearn to playconfidentin that adversity. During the second half of the game, they found successwithonly allowing one goal in.
The Laquey Hornets Soccer team also had all the support of their community as the stands were filled with not only athletes' families, but community members and fellow students. The district took 62 students filled with Hornet Pride to show that their small town is making a big mark. Posts were made on social media, and roads lined to show the team how proud they were of the team.
Coach Their said that the experience of getting to the Final Four has only left him and Coach Larson eager to work on things that were exposed by the best in the state. They are both hungry to get back to work and get back tostatenext season. The Hornets 2023 season ended with their 7th district title, winners of the Stover Tournament as well as making program history being a part of the Final Four in Class 1 of the State Championship.
