Lakeview High School has had a strong soccer program since 1986. Last season, the Bulldogs fought hard but did not come out on top. However, this season is looking more optimistic. With that being said, last season the Lady Bulldogs came out with a District Championship and went all the way to Regionals. This year feels different for our ladies with an assortment of new freshmen and only one senior this year. Both teams are looking forward to fantastic seasons.
This year our boys have a new addition to the team with coach Kyle Brown. Brown was an all-state goalkeeper for Champion who reached out to the team in the winter. He was happily accepted into the program for his expertise. While the girls have a new head coach, alumni Anna Paolucci. She was an assistant last year, but with former head coach, Marissa Brown retiring, Paolucci stepped up to lead the Lady Bulldogs into the 2023 season. Helping out his daughter, Vince Paolucci joined the soccer program as an assistant coach. Both the boys and the girls share a volunteer assistant, Anthony Augustine.
With new adjustments, the boys are coming out strong this year with a 4-1-1 record. Their first season game was against Howland which unfortunately ended in a 7-0 loss. But the next week they took down our long-lived school rival, Champion High School.
I asked boys coach, Nicholas Facciolo, how he feels about the season so far, “I’m proud of what they’ve done, compared to last year, the non-conference games were a good start, but while we go into the conference that’s when it gets more challenging.” Facciolo is proud of his boys and is looking forward to the rest of the season.
With a new season, comes new team captains. This year there are 3 captains for the Bulldogs, Senior Jacob Spencer, Senior Matthew Seikel, and Junior Anthony Marble-Salem. I asked each captain how they felt about the upcoming season.
Senior Captain, Spencer said, “We started out strong, the intensity is there day in and day out, and overall we’re looking pretty good.”
Senior Captain, Seikel, “We have put a lot of work into the season since the start of the off-season. I think we are off to a good start and we have a lot of momentum going into conference play where there are a lot of good teams, but we have a really good shot to compete in the conference this year.”
Junior Captain, Marble-Salem, “We have the ability to play with any competitive team on our schedule. So far the season has been good, now we just have to carry it out and play to the best of our abilities.”
The boys are all very confident this year!
The girls have jumped head-first into the season with a 3-3-1 record. Their first game was against school rival, Champion High School, which ended in an unfortunate loss. But their next game was a 12-0 win against South Range!
I talked to Coach Paolucci about how she felt the girls were competing this year and how it feels to be a head coach, and this is what she had to say, “The girls’ team is competing well, especially for having a small team. We are able to play as a team, even though we have varying levels of play and experience. All the girls do their part on and off the field. The goal this year is to keep everyone healthy by scoring early so we don’t have to fight fatigue at the end of every game. I am very grateful to be the girls’ soccer coach this year. As a Lakeview alumni, it means a lot to continue a tradition.”
The girls are rebuilding this season with a new head coach and a new assistant coach, along with all new freshmen, only one senior this year, and one senior captain.
Good luck to our teams this season! Go Dogs!
