Ripon High’s boys JV and Varsity soccer played on Thursday, January 11. Both teams fought playing a hard and long game against Hilmar High School. 

Varsity started their game in the first half strong as ever and limited the points in Hilmar’s favor abundantly. However, in the second half, their defense, along with their offense, slowly declined and our Indians were only able to conclude the game with a 0-3 loss. 

When asked what he thinks the team could have done better, Junior Ricky Langenfeld says, “Definitely our spacing. Just making sure we know where to be at all times instead of letting the other team pass around us.” This is an important characteristic to have especially when facing a team like Hilmar who Langenfeld described to have been good at attacking. Varsity is now 0-2 for games in the league. 

On a more positive note, JV boys had a successful game and took home the 1-0 win. Differing from Varsity, JV boys had a slow start in the first half and their memorable moments lied in the second half of the game. Sophomore, Landon Espinola scored the only goal of the night, a penalty kick given to them by a hand-ball on Hilmar. Espinola, who now has six goals in total throughout the season, still thinks there were things to be improved especially in limiting the other teams possessions to keep from being a game of “kickball”. 

All in all both teams played great and will be playing again on Tuesday, January 16. Make sure to come and support!