Seabury Hall Senior Patricio Santigao, a captain of the boys soccer team, said after a victory on Tuesday last week that the team has achieved excellence this season through perseverance and dedication.
The Spartans remain undefeated in the Division II Maui Interscholastic League, with wins against Molokai and Kihei Charter, and additional victories against DI Lahainaluna. On Tuesday afternoon, the Spartans defeated Kihei Charter 10-0 and then Lahainaluna 2-0 on Saturday evening.
“At each practice, we’ve all pushed each other and wanted to be better as a team,” Santiago said proudly after the win against the Tiger Sharks.
The defensive player expressed that the Spartans work to make each other better by building confidence and character. Seabury head coach Ian Mork made a similar sentiment. He said last week that the team has improved in many different ways including progressing their leadership on and off the field.
“We have different types of captains… some that lead by example on the field, some that are more captains off the field, and some that lead by their consistency,” said Mork.
The team uses strategies such as dividing the game into attack and defense, he explained.
“We’ve tried to focus on different objectives and every week we see them improving,” said Mork. “We’re happy with their improvement so far.”
But the season is not over yet, and they aren’t done practicing and progressing. The MOTIV8 Foundation Boys Soccer Championships will be held on Feb. 8 on Oahu, where the team has their sights set on the goal of winning the DII state title.
To prepare for higher competition at the state tournament, Santiago said they plan on scrimmaging Baldwin High School again.
“They were our toughest competitors we’ve had all season,” Santiago said. “We need to be both mentally and physically sharp if we want to have any bit of success as the game is just as mentally strenuous as it is physically.”
