An important component to team sports is the leadership of the team. Leadership comes in many forms but one of the most influential is leadership through experience. The boys soccer team was fortunate enough to have a captain this season with four years of varsity experience.

Senior Pearson Wallace has been playing soccer since he was six years old. Like many athletes, he began playing for fun on recreational teams before growing to love the game.

Wallace explains, “I was in first grade when I started playing soccer and it wasn’t until sixth grade when I decided to play competitive club soccer.”

Along with his extensive background, Wallace achieved another feat this year that few can boast. This year marked the season where he became a four-year varsity athlete. Initially making the JV-A team after tryouts his freshman year, the coaches decided to reevaluate him after an inter-squad scrimmage between the varsity and junior varsity teams.

It was not long before Wallace began dressing out for varsity and playing in their tournament games. Since sophomore year, he has started in every game he was capable of playing. This dedication to the team earned him the spot of captain his senior year.

Co-captain Joe Osterkamp added, “Pearson is a leader from the midfield. He is very skilled and controls the pace of the game.”

This season the boys ended with a record of 6-7. Despite being stopped at the play-in game by Trevor G. Browne, the team shows improvement as they won two more games than last year and moved up a rank in their conference.

Senior Chris Smith explained, “Unfortunately we didn’t play our best against Browne but that doesn’t take away from how much the team improved and how much fun we had this season.”

At the close of this season, the team will plan on losing a large majority of its starters to graduation. A total of 15 out of the 23 rostered players are currently seniors including four-year veteran Wallace.

While many athletes do not go on to play collegiately, Wallace has set his sights on the next level. He has committed to play for Brigham Young University. The absence of Wallace will force young players to step up and fill important roles on the team. It remains to be seen how this change will impact the future of the program.