The Glenbard South boys soccer team has not started off its season like expected. Entering this year, the Raiders knew they had a big challenge ahead of them, and some are skeptical if they are up for the challenge.

      After finishing last season with a respectable record of 12-7-1 and winning a regional title making it all the way to a sectional semifinal, where they were defeated by Wheaton Academy the boys hopes were high for this season. But starting this season off with a 5-6-2 record was not what anyone pictured including head coach Adam Syzscko. “We started off well with the Raider invite, playing in the Upstate 8 the teams in this conference are very good and soccer is one of their traditionally powerful sports so we’ve been struggling. We haven’t won a game in conference yet and have had a four game losing streak this past week. Hopefully we can right the ship and get a result in the Upstate 8 finally.”

      Though the team has put up respectable results against strong teams in a win against district rival Glenbard North and a draw against conference powerhouse East Aurora, it had still not been what anyone had pictured for this year. A team that had 16 returning players would hope to transition from a winning season and continue those victories but that’s not how the story has gone for the new season. Though some players have stepped up as expected, like Senior Spencer Pyle who has been leading the team with 12 goals, many have not been performing like it had in previous seasons.

      The team has also been dealing with multiple injuries which has caused at least four of the top players to miss games. Senior Alec Steiger has been dealing with a hurt left foot while Senior Kevin Enright has had to miss several games due to a back injury that happened back in April. As well as sophomore Lance Evans who has missed games with foot issues and Junior Ryan Vozza has yet to play a match this year after he suffered a injury to the back while playing in the blue and white scrimmage back on August 17th. “We’ve definitely been hit with a bit of an injury big, we’ve had about 6 or 7 guys go down with random injuries during the course of the season, it’s kinda of affected us of late,”said coach Syzcko.

       The Raiders have still been looking for their first conference win past their halfway point of the season. With only four conference matches remaining, the team hopes to pick up their play in the second half of the season. The matches remaining will put the Raiders against Bartlett, Larkin, South Elgin and Elgin who is ranked in the top twenty teams in the state. The boys look to rally together and hopefully improve their record as postseason play is just around the corner.

       As the end of regular season play has been continuing to grow closer, the team will be faced with yet another challenge in the road ahead as the sectional groupings have been released. The Raiders were paired up with schools like St. Viator and Marmion Academy who both hold extremely talented groups.

      With the regular season wrapping up in just three short weeks, the boys will look to rescue their losing record as they continue to train for the immense challenge that awaits them in the postseason.