The Alcovy girls and boys soccer teams experienced drastically different seasons from one another in 2023.

However, both teams enter 2024 under the same leadership.

First-year head coach Toby Davis will be in charge of both teams, and he has high expectations for the Tigers in his first year.

The Lady Tigers are coming off a 6-5 season in which they made it to the Class AAAAAA state playoffs. 

With many players returning in 2024, Davis spoke about the team’s key players going into the year.

“Even though they are sophomores, I have [Zariah] Strozier and Jasmyne Boney. Both of them got experience [last year] and will be two of our captains [this year],” Davis said. “Leadership wise, the person who will be running it for me is Tania Menchaca. I am looking for her experience to help lead this team.”

Menchaca feels that the team’s depth will become one of the team’s biggest strengths.

“Last year was a good season for us, based on Alcovy’s past history,” Menchaca said. “We had a very good captain [Sheylin Pantoja] last year and I am sad that she is gone, but a lot of girls came back this year so I think we can do good and be a lot better.”

With the Lady Tigers still in Region 3-AAAAAA, Menchaca feels confident that the team can learn a lot from their matchups last season in order to produce more success.

“They [the team] know who we play this year and how they played, so that is going to be a very good advantage for us this year,” Menchaca said. 

Though he wants to see more pace from the team, Davis felt like the team’s overall buy-in was the biggest growth he saw from them over the offseason.

“The girls' biggest strength right now is that they are committed,” Davis said. “We still are looking for speed, but they have been committed to getting out here to get faster and to work on the speed.”

Schematically, Davis was intentional about establishing a strong defensive presence. That is why Davis shared he plans to implement a 4-4-2 formation for the Lady Tigers. 

“If I can run the 4-4-2, I can cover more ground on the back end for defense and I can have my midfield get down there with my two strikers already set up for me,” Davis said.

While Davis works on getting the Lady Tigers back to the playoffs, he is looking for a turnaround of the boys team.

The Alcovy boys team is coming off a 1-9 season in which the team only scored 12 total goals.

Putting in the work to get better has been the main emphasis for Davis and one of the biggest changes he has seen from the team over the span of the offseason.

“When I came in, they were afraid to get better. They were afraid to get in the weight room,” Davis said. “[Now], they have realized that being in the weight room, running and being committed to being out here [is the way to go]. The biggest growth I have seen is that they are starting to listen now.”

For Davis, he feels that the team has all the talent necessary to have a good season, and it starts with the captain, Marco Gonzalez.

Communication was a topic that Davis and Gonzalez harped on.

“I think our biggest strength is that most of us know each other but we need to trust each other more,” Gonzalez said. “It is a big portion [of success] because we can call out if we are open but that has been one of our main issues we have been working on. It will be our strength this year.”

One new face that Davis expects to have an immediate impact is freshman Johnathan Fronrose. Overall, though, Davis believes 12 guys on the roster can make their presence felt in any match. 

Both Alcovy squads will begin their season on the road against the Eagle’s Landing Eagles Monday, Feb 5.