Varsity boys soccer gave it their best shot at breaking their district losing streak, ultimately suffering a 2-1 loss against the Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center High School at Barnett Stadium on the windy Feb. 15 afternoon. With yet another loss, their season record dropped to 1-13.

The team walked in with confidence from their previous Jan. 23 win against HMST. However, instead of taking care of business, Bellaire struggled to compete with HMST’s early goal, managing a single goal in the final five minutes of the match..

“It’s the small mistakes that lead to the goals that they score on us,” sophomore Samuel Hu said. “We lost 2-1 and both of the goals that they scored on us were from small mistakes. If we minimize those errors, the game would be a lot better.”

Hu is a center back defender who began playing varsity soccer this season. Hu believes that the varsity soccer team’s imbalanced record is a reflection of miscommunication on the field, significantly impacting the game.

“The games that we lose, we don’t even lose by like four or five goals; it’s not that we’re a way worse team than them,” Hu said. “It’s just that we make small mistakes which lead to us losing by one or two goals in the game.”

Beyond small mistakes, varsity boys’ soccer head coach and soccer program director Lucian Collins attributes the poor season record to injuries and “people sitting on paperwork.” As a result, Collins chooses to take an alternative approach to coaching.

“So this is kind of a rebuild here for us,” Collins said. “I like to think of this as a chessboard, so pieces can move in multiple directions.”

Collins’ approach to the game through chess provides the team with a new outlook on the game.

“I think everyone, to become a really good football player, needs to be aware of every position on the board [and] what each piece does, that way they become well-rounded,” Collins said.

Despite the imperfect season record, Collins still believes the team can grow from a new mindset.

“I’m impressed with the way the team has been improving and playing together as a team,” Collins said.

On the other hand, the changing method of switching players’ positions around brings challenges too.

“I think, overall, we need to make better decisions with our priorities,” sophomore Jason Zhao said. “Our communication with Coach Collins is not always efficient. So, sometimes, the team is on different pages.”