Auburn Mountainview boys soccer loses third game in a row

Lions are through the most difficult stretch of the season after 1-0 loss to Federal Way.

By Benjamin Ray • March 29, 2023 1:30 pm
Lion runs down the field with pace to try and attack the Eagles. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Auburn Mountainview senior Nate Esayase attempts to get the Lions going offensively. Ben Ray / The Reporter

The Auburn Mountainview Lions boys soccer dropped its third game in a row after losing to Federal Way 1-0 at Federal Way High School.

The Lions’ record sits at 1-4 this year with a lone win against Kentridge. The team is young, and struggling to work together.

“We just need to communicate better. We don’t communicate with each other… We had the ball 90% of the time,” senior Nate Esayase said.

The Lions dominated possession for the majority of the game but were unable to score and capitalize on some opportunities.

“This game we just didn’t finish. We had eight corners, I don’t know how many shots and a heavy amount of possession and just couldn’t score,” Head Coach Joey West said.

They have played a very difficult schedule as well; all four losses have been against 4A schools. Of those four, Woodinville and Tahoma were the lone playoff teams, Tahoma beat the Lions 4-1 and were the lone State qualifying team on the Lions ledger so far.

“We have all the skill, we just need to build some team chemistry. Communicating with each other on the field,“ said West.

The Lions went into halftime a scoreless draw, but early in the second half Auburn Mountainview conceded the lone goal of the game. And that tally ended up being the difference in the game.

“They got in our heads a little bit… It was just a bad day to have a bad day,“ Esayase said.

Auburn Mountainview has had a good amount of success in the soccer world. Dating back to 2009, the Lions have made the state tournament five times, including back-to-back-to-back years from 2014 to 2016.

A key to success this year is just becoming familiar with each other, the team’s coach says. “We lost a lot of seniors and key players last year. Replacing that has been hard… we’ve played really tough competition, but there is a lot of [the] season left,” West said.

For the players, they just need to familiarize themselves with each other, according to one of the captains. “We just need to do some team bonding, team activities to get to know each other a little more. We’re a new team and a fresh team,“ Esayase said.