Keeping goal: Soccer player big part of Owls’ ‘D’

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The Seymour boy’s soccer team enjoyed a lot of success this fall in posting a record of 12-4.

Included in those wins was the Hoosier Hills Conference title.

Brayan Torres said he thoroughly enjoyed being a member of the team where he served as backup goalie.

“I enjoyed playing with the people on the team,” he said. “We were all really close. We just looked after each other. We had a pretty good group of seniors and I enjoyed playing with them and my teammates.

“We did a lot of really good stuff this year. We had a lot of talent and we had passion for the game. We wanted all those things.”

Torres began playing soccer in Seymour his freshman year at SHS. He had previously played on a middle school team in Iowa.

He played defense his freshman year before moving to the net.

“Communication is really important because you’ve got to tell (the defense) when to come back, when to push up,” Torres said of playing goalie. “When the ball is in the air tell them to clear or get it out of the ‘bully’ box.”

Torres said he and starting goalie, Elliott Clark, talked a lot in practice about situations on the soccer field.

“We gave each-other tips at practice,” he said. “I had to know where to be positioned so when they shot I could dive the right way and not leave a lot of space open on the goal.

“I had to follow the ball everywhere it went and pay attention to where it was going to go.”

The Owls had seven shutouts this season, and allowed only 13 goals for the season.

Torres said he was pleased to have hand in those numbers, and he said he felt like one of his strengths was his quickness to be able to get to the ball.

“I stopped some, not a lot, at the top of the net,” he said and mentioned he didn’t have to try and stop any penalty kicks this season.

The senior enjoyed playing the home matches this season on the turf field.

“It felt really different, the ball was faster, the surface was just different than when we played at Freeman Field (on grass),” Torres said. “I loved the home matches.”

A lot of the Owls’ successes started with solid practices.

“Practice was real important,” Torres said. “It was a time to get better and learn new things. During August when it was really hot the turf would burn your feet, so it was kind of difficult to practice.”

Torres said that he will miss taking the pitch.

“I’ve enjoyed it here (at SHS),” Torres said. “I enjoyed my classes. “I’ll remember the victories all four years I played soccer. I enjoyed every game the most I could.”

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Name: Brayan Torres

School: Seymour High School

Parents: Jose Torres, Mayra Torres

Siblings: Alin, Esmeralda, Brittney

Sports: soccer 4 years

Athletic honors: 2015 Hoosier Hills Conference champions, won O Cup, 2014 JV most valuable player

Plans after high school: attend college

Favorite food: BBQ

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