Williston’s Boys Soccer team received a big international influx of players this year, and they hit the field in September ready to prove themselves.

This past off season the boys Head Soccer Coach, John Chiavaroli, put together a large recruiting class comprised of nine new players from across the world: Guillermo Castañeda Chang ’20, Hector Samoya ’20, and Martin Machon ’20 all hail from Guatemala; Hakeem Morgan ’20 is from Costa Rica; Marco Cerezo ’20 is from Spain, and Pietro Briguglio ’22 is from Italy.

With the new recruiting class comes new challenges. These players had never played with one another before, and they had two weeks of preseason to try and put it all together. A common problem teams face is chemistry and learning how to play with each other. However, these problems can be solved with time and patience, as well as experience.

Coach Chiavaroli spent the better part of the last six months putting this recruiting class together.

Hector Samayoa, a PG from Guatemala, is the left back on the team. “Each player can play well individually but we just need to develop that chemistry as a team,” he said.

Hector continued, “With our first game Wednesday [Sept. 18], we should be able to pull it all together and be ready to play.”

Hakeem Morgan, who plays striker, told The Willistonian, “Even though we haven’t played or practiced so much we are getting along in and off the field very well and [we’ve had] good scrimmages and we have a competitive team.”

“I’m ready and hyped … I think as a team we will be ready,” Hakeem said.

[Williston won the game, against Cushing Academy, 6-1.]

On Sept. 14 the soccer team headed to Philadelphia for a showcase. The weekend of games provided the team a prime opportunity to bond and build chemistry on and off the field.

Marco Cerezo, who plays central back for the Wildcats, said the team made “a lot of individual mistakes” at the showcase, which is okay as the team learns to gel.

“Coach said that we played well,” he said, “but we know we didn’t play 100%.”

“I think Wednesday we will be good because on the weekend we play against teams that are better then the teams we usually play,” he added.

Guillermo is the team’s new goal keeper. He told The Willistonian, “We’ve been working and the team is doing great and we think it’s gonna be a positive season.”

As of press time, the team’s record is 8-3-2.