After losing in the Regional Quarterfinal last year to Nansemond River the Midlothian High School soccer team lost key seniors and their head coach Ted Jones. The team did not finish as well as they wanted to, however they believe they have learned from their mistakes. Their new head coach, Chad Porter, will bring a new approach to the game with his new ideas and a different style of coaching to the team. Players find that he focuses on conditioning, discipline and has even brought a new formation to the team.

This year’s team has a good variety of ages with three freshmen making the team, Davis West, Bouge Cummings and Smith McGuire and two sophomores including Finlay Raphael and Chase Hebert.  The biggest rivals this year include James River and Cosby as always and they will play James River at home on April 7th and Cosby at home on May 3rd both being crucial games to watch.

When asked how far the team can go this year,  senior captain Connor Rea responded saying, I believe we can go to the state finals, we have a good core and the talent to do so.¨ The team will surely want to advance further than last year after losing in an upset against Nansemond River. The boys take this goal seriously and this can be seen during practice where they are especially focused on passing and aggressively attacking the goal.

On St. Patrick’s day, Midlothian played Clover Hill to start out their season and ended up tieing 1-1 with goal from Taylor Vest after a wonderful assist from Connor Rea. During the second game of the season Midlothian beat Monacan 5-1 with help of Connor Rea who scored a hat trick and the excellent goalkeeping skills of senior captain Ian Connor who allowed only one goal. After starting the season on a good note the team looks to rest and practice more during spring break. May 15th will conclude their season with the boys senior night against L.C. Byrd.