The Rice Raiders won their host tournament after tying one game against Hallettsville and winning the other two against Luling and Caldwell.
The Raiders team played a complete game on both offense and defense so much so that the Raiders goalie humorously claimed he was bored.
“I am very proud because that is that main thing, we work on is defense, and the guys really played hard today and I am very proud of them,” Raiders head coach David Leist said. “I do feel bad for our goalie because he said he’s bored back there but, this was a big win for us.”
The Raiders started the tournament with a tie 1-1, against Hallettsville but that was the closest a team came to defeating the Raiders.
In the second game the Raiders defeated Luling 2-0 and the offense came to life in this game. They moved the ball well and played at a speed that Luling could not catch up to.
Even though they were winning the game Leist kept his team focused on the next goal. He yelled at his team that the score was 0-0 after a goal to keep his team focus on the game.
“That’s something we also have been working on, it does not matter the score, the weather or whatever is in front of us we have to be mentally tough enough to go and attack,” Leist said. “They have received that message well and it has been a big benefit for us.”
The last game saw the Raiders take down Caldwell 2-1 and claim the championship at their host tournament. Leist said he was very proud of his team not just on the varsity level but on the junior varsity level.
This is the first junior varsity soccer team in school history and they put together a really strong tournament as well as a glimpse of talent that is in the pipeline for the Raiders.
The Raiders will be back on the field on Tuesday, Jan. 14, against Hempstead on their home field in Rice.