Saturday, Sept. 25 the Trinity Men’s Club Soccer Team played the first home match of their season against Texas Southmost College (TSC) at Old Spanish Trail Park. Trinity lost the game 4-5, making their overall season record so far 3-1.

The Tigers, who are currently ranked third out of eight teams in the Texas Collegiate Soccer League (TCSL) Region IV, started out strong in the first half scoring three goals to TSC’s two.

According to senior co-captain Carlos Bucheli, the team’s offense is responsible for their early scoring success.

“I would say we had a pretty effective offensive strategy by trying to play wide with our wingers and getting crosses in. That resulted in all of the goals the team scored. We were aggressive when we needed to be and slowed down when we were on top,” Bucheli said.

The Tigers have a unique offensive style that has allowed them to tie with the no. 1 ranked UT Austin club team as the top scorer in the region, according to senior co-captain Ryan Figert.

“[At our games] you’ll see kind of just a fun, free flowing, attacking way of playing. Maybe for the first time really this year we’ve had players in every position that can play that style so it’s kind of fun,” Figert said.

However, the Tigers’ strong offense in the first half was not enough to maintain the lead in the second half of the game. According to Bucheli, TSC found a weak spot in Trinity’s defense by using long balls to bypass.

“The team’s defense had a strong performance, nonetheless, there are always opportunities for improvement. We held them back throughout the game, but some mistakes — especially with long balls — ended up in the opponent’s goals. “ Bucheli said.

According to Figert, defense is one area that the team is currently working on improving. “We’ve given up a few too many goals,“ Figert said.

In the second half, TSC scored three goals where the Tigers were only able to score one, bringing the final result to 4-5. Sophomore Corey Chung and Vayu Sarangam each scored one goal for the Tigers, earning their first and second goals of the season respectively. The other two goals were scored by the team’s top scorer Jorge Toruno who has scored a total of nine goals this season so far.

A confounding factor in the Tiger’s loss was playing on an unfamiliar field, according to senior captain Carlos Bucheli.

“I would say that Trinity is used to training on turf, and playing on grass is certainly different. It is a disadvantage for us to not be able to use the IM field for games.” Bucheli said.

Although the team is able to practice on the turf IM field for practice, the field is not big enough to be used for games according to the size and dimension requirements set by the TSCL. McGinley Field is also not an option for the club team because of the new turf, so the team had to find an alternative place to play games, according to Figert.

“The cool part about not being on the play [on campus …] is that we’ve actually been able to start a partnership with a local charity [Urban Soccer Leadership Academy (USLA) …] And so we’re working on kind of forging a partnership where we’re going to play at their fields for home games, and we’re going to be volunteering with them.” Figert said.

USLA is an organization that works with underserved communities and uses soccer as a vehicle to support kids academically and help get them to college, according to Figert.

“We’re looking forward to, you know, getting involved in academic tutoring and soccer coaching. And we’ve got a lot more guys this year than we have in the past — and girls too because the girls team is also going to be involved in this — so I think we’re going to have a lot of man and woman power to be able to help them out” Figert said.

Partnering with USLA adds an element of community service to what it means to be a member of the club team. According to senior co-captain Gabriel Dominguez, the team focuses on three main elements in building their team culture.

“What we like to instill in the guys on the team is kind of a three-pronged approach. First of all, we want our goal to be there to win. That’s first and foremost. The second is to improve. And the third is to have fun, and if one of those is out of balance then something needs to change.” Dominguez said.

Trinity Men’s Club will face UT Austin on Oct. 2 in another home match with a location that has yet to be determined.