Globe High School’s varsity soccer team opened their season with a pair of impressive home wins last week, over the Santa Rita (Tucson) Eagles and Morenci Wildcats.

The Tigers’ season kicked off Monday night, Nov. 27, at Harbison Field with a 19-0 victory over the visiting Eagles. Globe raced to an early 3-0 lead on two goals by junior Joshua Barnes and one by senior Ryan Sluyter, and led 12-0 with around 18 minutes left in the first half. Barnes was the game’s top scorer, with six goals. Senior Sergio Lara, freshman Timothy Mellema and freshman Eduardo Rodriguez all scored three goals. Sluyter, fellow senior Tim Baker, and freshmen Connor Dean and Brody East each added a goal.

Globe hosted the Wildcats in Morenci’s first game of the season on Wednesday night, Nov. 29. The Tigers built up a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes, then added goals with 5:00 and 1:45 left in the first half to take a 4-0 edge into halftime. Around five minutes into the second half, Morenci junior Jossue Vaca cut the Tigers’ lead to 4-1. However, Globe answered with a goal of their own with 28:50 left. The Tigers then put the game away. With just over 12:00 to go, Sluyter – who led the way with five goals – followed up his own shot for a 6-1 lead. Junior goalie Sam Rifenbark denied the Wildcats a second goal with an impressive save with 9:13 left, and Mellema provided the final score in Globe’s 7-1 win. Mellema and Barnes each scored a goal, and Barnes also notched an assist.

“Tonight’s game was a real challenge,” Globe head coach Barry Schwenk said Wednesday night. “Morenci has always come in really aggressive and is a solid team. Our boys worked really hard. I’m really proud of how they worked together and were able to get out the win.”

“This team has come a very long way,” he added. “You can see a sense of chemistry develop; you can see the culture of the team is coming together. It’s a testament to our juniors and seniors who have invested time, and the underclassmen as well. It’ll still be a challenge for us with some teams during the season, but this gives us a little bit of a boost and some encouragement going into some of those tougher games.”

Next up for the 2-0 Tigers is a third straight non-section home game, against the 1-0-1 Gilbert Classical Academy Spartans, on Thursday night, Dec. 7.