Soccer player endures leg injury

Despite coming off a leg injury, Michael Villanueva (10) still worked through the soccer season and plans to return for his third varsity season next fall.

“On the varsity side during practice, we split up and played so the coach could get an idea of how we act on the field. We also did some passing drills to see our ball control and our touch,” Villanueva said. “Practices were slightly different from last year because we did 11-on-11 scrimmages rather than five on five. This made it more realistic, which I liked because that way the coach can really get a feel of the players.”

Villanueva tore a tendon in his calf keeping him sidelined for three months, dashing his hopes for the season.

“Many of the shooting drills that they did [at practices], I wasn’t allowed to do because I wasn’t fully cleared at the time,” he said. “During the scrimmages, a lot of the time if they needed one guy to sit out, that was me.”

Villanueva wasn’t at the top of his game last season but looks forward to contributing to his team’s wins going forward.

“Even though we lost a couple of seniors, we still will have a strong core team. We had some new players join our team, who definitely have skill, which has contributed to this year’s season,” Villanueva said. “I think we have a promising squad and could make another state run in the future with the strong players coming in and a good heart on the remaining players.”

By Maddie Brownlie