Olympia soccer: Brothers in legs

SOUTHWEST ORANGE COUNTY  There is a difference between a great team and a great collection of players.

One word used often to describe great teams is chemistry – how well teammates interact and complement each other.

A collection of great players can fail to meet expectations without good chemistry, but the richly talented Olympia boys soccer team has it, with two epitomes.

Seniors Jayson Moorman and Bryce Gilgallon have been teammates since sixth grade at Chain of Lakes Middle School, often on multiple teams at once, and juniors Daniel Araujo and Nicolas de la Portilla have done the same at Gotha Middle School. This includes Florida Rush Soccer Club for both sets, with occasional practices there involving all four.

“We got closer,” Araujo said. “We know really well where each other are on the field. We have a lot of chemistry together on the field. I have a good idea of what he's going to do and open up to make it better for him.”

This benefits the juniors especially -- they work together as midfielders. Although Moorman plays defense and Gilgallon striker, Moorman said playing with someone he has known so long makes it more fun, too, often from balancing one another in a happy medium.

“I think we challenge each other's perspectives and then work it out on the field,” Gilgallon said. “We both will listen to the other's opinion. Because he plays defense and I play striker, we see a lot of different things.”

Araujo said similar coaches have helped him and de la Portilla to think similarly, and de la Portilla said a mix of strengthening one another in practice and cooperation on the field has helped them develop.

Those two also like to literally strengthen together in the weight room, and besides frequent interactions at school, all four are otherwise all about soccer together. This goes from each pair enhancing friendships through Rush and pick-up to playing FIFA.

Having two pairs of returning starters who have played hundreds of games together is a boon for any team. For head coach Lou Romao, it also has produced his two senior captains and two juniors he looks to for leadership.

This means – despite a 14-2-2 record before a game Jan. 14 at East Ridge – all four know their team must further cohere and improve in their two road games before district playoffs, given their 3-1-2 district record that put them behind three undefeated rivals.

“We still haven't found our best starting lineup, and we need to have the best 11 out there to start, because we have so many talented players,” de la Portilla said. “We need to find that chemistry to work together, work for each other to defeat our opponents. We have an amazing record because of the talent, but we still want to keep it going, because we're hosting and it's very important for us.”

Araujo added a need to remember how well and often the team has united in comebacks this season, which Moorman expounded on.

“We got to remember, the whole team, to stay calm, because we're always going to mess up, but it's always going to bounce back,” Moorman said.

If not?

“In playoffs there's no losing and fixing things -- there's losing and sitting and watching,” Gilgallon said.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].