Soccer is a game completely revolving around being a team. You can not play the game alone.

I have had the pleasure of working alongside the Sports Information Director of Corban Athletics, Danny Day and his intern Vitaliy Kirichenko during Corban's soccer season.

The men’s team is coached by Aaron Lewis who has taken them to be 3 time Cascade Conference Collegiate Champions. This season of soccer has been a year of growth. The new players needed to adjust to being a part of a new family and learning the ways of a new coach.

Being able to watch the men play has been an honor. Some characteristics I have observed throughout the season involve:

• During warm ups they practice hard, but still goof off and have fun together
• They get mad during games but still keep a good attitude instead of lashing out at each others
• Coach Lewis never gets mad at his players but encourages and praises his boys
• They always give the glory to God, praying before every game
• They pray after the game, win or lose

As I have watched, I have seen players grow. In the CCC Championship game, Travez Whyte, Igor Hubenya, Langdon Roscoe and Cedar Robinson excelled.

Robinson never gave up. He put so much energy into the game. He listened to Coach Lewis and was where he needed to be.

Hubenya pressed hard and intercepted many passes. He was one of the three who scored the winning goals.

Roscoe played defense well. He helped defend many goals which made All American goalkeeper Jordan Farr’s job much easier. Farr said in an after game interview “Not a whole lot for me to do today, which is crazy so I gotta give it up to the attackers.” He also scored one of the three winning goals.

Lastly Whyte used his speed. He was able to keep up with the opposite team and intercepted many balls from getting near the goal.

Right before Farr went to the goal at the beginning of the game, he and red shirt goalie Alex Muir shared a special hand shake, showing the special bond the players have.

Corban is a Christian college and I think it is evident Jesus is apart of the team on the field. Other other team's coaches get yellow carded for language and for their interactions with the referees. Other players are yellow or red carded for their behavior on the field. These offenses do not occur often on Corban’s team - they stay humble and level headed.

“I have seen the team grow a ton off the field” Muir said. He also pointed out that relationships have grown throughout the season. The team's success is due to the strong bonds they have.

"It was tough knowing that I was just a player to give someone a break for 5 minutes, but I'm glad I can still contribute to the team,"said Joseph King, a player on the reserves team. "The team has grown closer to each other as the season went on."

As the men move towards Nationals, I know that God will still be the center of it all. Whatever the outcome may be, God has a plan for them all, and they trust His plan.