Rehoboth boys soccer return solid core: Lynx start season at 6-1-1
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Rehoboth Christian Morgan Arsenault (9) dribbles the ball near the sidelines on Thursday, Sept. 12 during the Christian Jacquez Boys Soccer Tournament. The Lynx are off to a phenomenal start at 6-1-1 overall.
REHOBOTH, N.M. – For a team that lost eight seniors to graduation last season, the Rehoboth Christian boys soccer team is off to a phenomenal start.
The Lynx improved to 6-1-1 after shutting out Gallup, 10-0, on Tuesday night. Over the weekend, Rehoboth dropped its first contest of the year, losing to Silver High, 2-1, in the finals in the Christian Jacquez Boys Soccer Tournament at Rehoboth High School.
“We did lose a lot of seniors, so we’ve had to make some adjustments in terms of where guys are playing,” Rehoboth coach Philip Frederiksen said. “But we do have some guys that have played the sport for four years now and that makes a difference. You can see that with their maturity of play.”
This year’s group is not as deep as last season, but the Lynx return a solid core. Some of the top returners include seniors Morgan Arsenault, Clayton Van Slooten, and Zack Van Drunen as well as juniors Trajen West and Johnny Zylstra.
“We have the potential to do well in our district but we’re going to take it one game at a time,” Frederiksen said.
Last season Rehoboth finished second in District 1-A/3A behind perennial boys soccer powerhouse Sandia Prep. The two teams played in the state semifinals last year with the Albuquerque prep school advancing to the Class A/3A title game with a 2-1 win.
The rest of the district teams include Bosque, East Mountain, Cottonwood Classical, and Oak Grove.
“All of our teams in our district are well-coached, and they have good programs,” Frederiksen said. “They play year-round in Albuquerque, so it’s tough on us because we have multi-sport athletes that, you know, do three sports in a year.”
In this week’s latest coaches poll, four teams within the district were ranked in the top 10 with Sandia Prep coming in at No. 2 behind top-ranked Santa Fe Prep.
Oak Grove held the No. 3 spot followed by Rehoboth, Bosque, New Mexico Military Institute, and East Mountain.
Las Vegas Robertson, Santa Fe St. Michael’s, and Santa Fe’s ATC rounded out the rest of the top 10 teams.
“Because we compete in a tough district everybody knows that we usually get three, four teams to state,” Frederiksen said. “It’ll be great if we can make the state tournament again.”
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