The Hellgate soccer program’s season has started off well with brilliant wins in the first four games against Flathead, Glacier, Butte, and Big Sky. The program’s first games were on Aug. 29; however, by that point the teams had already been practicing for around two weeks. Preseason began with tryouts on Aug. 15 for the girls, and on Aug. 18 for the boys. Additionally, during the summer before preseasons began, players and coaches were getting together and creating connections.
The new head coach for Hellgate girls soccer, Chaucer Larson, believes that summer activities are important for building the team. “…It was time for [the players] to just get to know each other, spend time together,” said Larson.
Larson, a Hellgate alum himself, now teaches Spanish 1 and 2 at the school. He knows that community is a big part of Hellgate, and has integrated that into his coaching. One simple thing he’s done to help foster an inclusive environment on the girls’ team is to begin every practice together with a group huddle, shoutouts from the day before, and warmups as a full program—not separating the JV from the varsity. Larson also not only coaches the varsity team, but will occasionally coach the JV as well.
Another important aspect of Larson’s coaching philosophy is his intentionality. “[in practice], I make sure I’m being myself, make sure I’m always just doing things in the best way possible, being very intentional,” said Larson.
Kennedy Peterson, a junior on the girl’s varsity team, has noticed the intentionality from the new coaching staff. Peterson was on varsity last year, under the coaching of Natalie Hiller-Claridge, and observed a couple of differences between the two seasons. She noted that this year has been focused on improvement. “…I think Chaucer is trying to make us better,” said Peterson.
Improvement is also vital for the boy’s teams, though work ethic may be even more important. Fraser Horton, the JV boys coach and another Hellgate alum, explained that most of his job is to train the JV boys up to varsity standards. “…The goal for our season really is developmental … [seeing] from the start of the season ‘til the end, how much they can develop individually and as a team,” said Horton.
Senior Will Ries commented that the boy’s varsity team is “pretty much a brand-new team” with four returning varsity players, including himself. While this may seem daunting for other teams, the Knights are taking it in stride. “I think we have the potential to go far, we just have to find a way to play with each other at our highest level,” said Ries.
Team chemistry is a valued aspect of the soccer program overall. “If we grow our chemistry together through team bonding events and at practice, I think we have a real shot at making this season worth it,” said Sebastian Sorenson, a junior on varsity, when asked about hopes for the rest of the season. Owen Barr, a sophomore on JV had a similar comment: “[The team should] get some team chemistry going, ping the ball around.”
In a sport such as soccer, it’s very important for the teams—and the community in general—to be united. Even freshmen are immediately included and quickly integrated into the program. One such freshman, Georgia Hanford (JV), explained, “At first I was a little intimidated just because the girls are so good and it seems like there’s a very tight community, but everyone has been so inviting and supportive.”
So, one huge part of the Hellgate soccer program is community. Another one, as many may guess considering the Knights’ records, is winning. So far, the teams have been making good on this, with the varsity girls and boys winning 8-0 and 10-0 against Flathead, 4-2 and 4-0 against Glacier, 9-0 and 5-0 against Butte, and 1-0 and 4-0 against Big Sky, respectively.
“It’s been going amazing, actually; [the JV] has been winning, the varsity’s been winning,” said Merci Busime, a freshman on varsity. Several JV boys agreed with Busime, saying that the season has been going well. Lachlan Lurgio, a sophomore, even went so far as to say that it had been “a brilliant season” so far.
The teams are hoping to keep it up. The girl’s varsity team is working towards being at the very least city champs. “As a team, I hope that we win city, I hope we win state, I hope we can go as far as we can,” said Peterson. On the boy’s side, Ries and Sorenson agreed, both expressing interest in winning state this year, which would add another state title to the eight that the team has already won. “Main goal is winning state… a little side quest would be beating Sentinel,” said Sorenson. The boys are certainly on track to continue winning, with a 19-goal differential as of now. “…three games in, we haven’t conceded once,” said Ries after their game on Sept. 9.
The Knights play their home games at the Rattlesnake fields. Girls varsity and boys JV play at the same time, and boys varsity and girls JV play at the same time. There are plenty of games to watch (see the schedule below), though easily the most important is the cross-town game against Sentinel on Oct. 14, when the girls varsity play at 3:00, and the boys play at 5:00.
