The Varsity Boys soccer team beat Escondido 3-0 Wednesday night, helping to push the formerly first place Cougars down to third in the Avocado-East League. The Mustangs, ranked number 26 in the state, are now 1-0 for League games. Overall, the team is 9-1-3.

One of the wins includes the team’s 2-1 victory against Carlsbad, ranked number one in the state.  The Mustangs used this game to prove that team unity is the key to success, varsity head coach Jesus Rico-Sanz said in an email to the Mustang.

The team faced Carlsbad (currently 13-1-1) in a non-conference game on Jan. 7 at SDA. Despite Carlsbad’s impressive record and state rank, according to Rico-Sanz, the Mustangs went into the game expecting to be victorious. “This season I never had the feeling I would lose any game. I have full trust on the players,” said Rico-Sanz.

The players were not as sure as the coaches, team captain and senior Kyle Hoff said. There were worries about Carlsbad’s rank as well as coming back to soccer after the winter break, but Hoff said the team tried to move itself away from the mindset that they were an inferior team.

“What I told the team in the pre-game huddle was ‘Just because no one expects anything out of you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect anything out of yourself,’ “said Hoff.

According to both Hoff and Rico-Sanz, this game proved the team could trust each other and to present a unified front in order to win as well as make the people in the stands proud. “As soccer players, they try to put the best show for all the people that support them and come to watch their games,” said Rico-Sanz. Goals were scored by senior Dane Wankier and junior Tristan Norton.