Northwestern Boys Soccer Coach: “We Want a Regional Championship”

During the first day of preseason practice earlier this month, Northwestern boys soccer coach Nigel Trim pulled his players together, sat them down and had them watch the tape of their loss to High Point in last year’s Class 4A South regional semifinals, a game during which the Wildcats, marred by early mistakes and missed opportunities, quickly fell behind before eventually losing, 3-0.

Trim didn’t do this to conjure up bad memories, though, or to remind his players of past mistakes.

“I wanted them to see the early opportunities that we had in that game but didn’t take advantage of,” Trim said. “But, watching that, the guys understand that and know we can actually win games like that.”

Prior to the loss, Northwestern beat Bowie, 1-0, in the first round of the Class 4A South playoffs before pulling out a 3-2 win in penalty kicks against Eleanor Roosevelt in the regional quarterfinals. The Wildcats finished the season 7-6, improving on their 6-7 record in 2009, Trim’s first year as head coach. And having seen consistent progression during the course of the last three years, and armed with several key returning players, Trim feels Northwestern is poised to take an even bigger step forward this season.

“The team’s looking great,” Trim said. “We’re just looking to continue building on what we did last year. We want a regional championship. We fell one game short [of the regional finals] last year, but I think we have the team to win it this year.”

Wildcats senior Christian Arevalo agreed.

“We’re very excited to show what we’ve got this year,” Arevalo said, adding that Northwestern is also eager to show opposing teams that “we’re here to take everything, and go all the way, this year.”

Aside from Arevalo, Northwestern returns four other starters from last season’s team – Edwin Arias, Samuel Kahsai, Cristian Romero and Herson Romero. Trim is also excited about the potential of senior transfer Carlos Sanchez, who will play forward for the Wildcats.

“We’re going to be pretty good both offensively and defensively,” Arevalo said. “The team looks very sharp. We’re looking a lot better than we have in the past.”

And even despite having to replace several players from last year, including midfielders Adrian Resendiz and Moises Sanchez, Trim likes what he sees from his returning pieces and is optimistic this could be the year that the Wildcats take the next step as a program and challenge for their first regional championship since 1995.

“I think we’re more mature and more focused,” Trim said. “I don’t really have to do a lot of micro-managing this year. Even just giving simple directions, guys are listening and executing on the field. I see a change in attitude this year. The team’s really looking good.”

Arevalo shared in Trim’s enthusiasm, saying, “With as much work as we’ve put into this off-season, the result should be a regional championship.”