Apaches Boys Soccer Looks To Kick Losing Trend

The Arcadia boys soccer team was unable to stop its losing streak and hold off West Ranch in a tough 3-2 loss on Wednesday filled with two yellow cards, one red card and an ejection. The loss dropped the team to 0-4. 

"Unfortunately right now we are [winless]," said Arcadia coach Jason Franz before the game against West Ranch. "Two of the games we were up and lost by one. We are having a hard time finishing."

The last year the Apaches placed in CIF was 2006, and the seasons since have been a tough uphill battle to get back into a winning position. According to Franz, who is in his sixth year coaching the Apaches, the talent pool coming onto the team is not the issue, but rather the talented potential players starting school at Arcadia who never consider playing for the school team.

The culprit in this situation is the United States Developmental Academy.

According to ussoccer.com, United States Soccer created a developmental league, regularly referred to as "The Academy," focused on training elite youth athletes through rigorous practice and competitive game play. Where other club sports organizations are limited to playing only in the time outside of the set high school sport season, The Academy runs all year. The drawback is that players belonging to The Academy are prohibited from playing sports for their high school.

"Since 2007, we have lost a lot of good players to The Academy," Franz said.

Fortunately for the Arcadia soccer team, strong and talented players both new and seasoned are on the Apaches' roster. An improved level of dedication matches the team's capacity.

"This year, everyone cares a lot and puts in more effort — we're just a better group," said Apache co-captain and senior forward Danny Ortiz, who scored the first goal in the game against West Ranch. "Last season, players just didn't care as much."

"The past seasons, we had really good players, but they just didn't really care about the team as a whole," said co-captain and junior forward Spencer Terry. "This year we click and work better together."

"A big goal for us this season is to make CIF," Franz said. "We have a fairly young team, but we have a lot more depth in terms of our bench players. We just need to learn to finish."

Although the young season for the Apaches has yet to yield a victory, the team strives to learn from each minute on the field despite the outcome of the game.

The Apaches play their first Pacific League game on Dec. 15 at Glendale.