As the boys’ soccer team prepared for its first game of sections against Armstrong Oct. 14, Senior captain Nick Kent said he felt confident that his team could win.

“I was honestly super excited,a little nervous occasionally, but overall really excited.” Kent said “I was also confident, I knew that it would be a good game,” Kent said.

While the game resulted in a victory, Park allowed a goal within the first minute of the game, which according to head coach Chato Alvarez, felt was attributed to the team’s lack of focus. 

“At the beginning we lost concentration when they scored the goal, but then we started playing our game, and I felt a lot better,” Alvarez said.

Sophomore Luca Guarin played a role in helping the team win, as he scored a hat trick in his first game back after suffering a concussion. According to Guarin, he was excited to contribute to the team on the field after a long absence.

“I felt amazing, it felt really good just being there for the team and putting goals and really making an impact.” Guarin said. 

After it’s first goal, Kent said he felt it put the team’s head in the game – like they had something to win for. 

“it just got us into the game, everyone got super excited, we weren’t out of the game yet,” Kent said. “It sparked us a little bit, it gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the game.”

As the team moves onto the next round Kent said he feels excited to see what will happen with the team, but also knows there are some things that need to be improved.

“I feel good, we have a couple of things to work on, but I’m excited,” Kent said. “I think that it will be another really good game; Southwest is a good team,” Kent said.

 Going into the semifinals against Southwest, Guarin said he has kept an open mind about playing his next game.

“Just play our hearts out and get the win, like we can beat them and we are good enough to beat them,” Guarin said. “We just gotta have that mindset of nothing can beat us.” 

Park is set to play Minneapolis Southwest at 3 p.m. Oct. 16 at Southwest High School.