Leyden High School’s varsity soccer team had a strong season, but their run in the sectional rounds ended with a 2-1 loss to West Chicago. Even with the defeat, the team showed determination and pride all season long.
“Winning the regional championship was great and exciting, just knowing that we are making school history by winning three in a row after not winning one for a while.” said senior Giovanni Valencia.
The Eagles came into the game focused but tried not to let the pressure get to them. “We were trying to be as focused as we could but also trying not to let the pressure get into us,” Valencia said.
For sophomore defender Jayden Manjarrez, the regional championship was a highlight of his first varsity season. “Winning the regional championship felt like a reward from all of our games that we had through the season, and as a sophomore my first year on varsity it felt really nice.” he said.
Leyden scored first when Rogelio Herrera (#23) put the team ahead in the 21st minute. Goalkeeper Julio de Santiago (#1) made a big save then another shot came in that hit the crossbar, keeping West Chicago from tying the game early. “What made that game different is how we already knew this was going to be a tough team and we were already too confident considering how we already played them early in the season and won pretty comfortably,” Valencia said.
West Chicago answered with a goal to tie the game. The match was intense, with fouls not called and a yellow card for arguing an offsides call. “At first it felt like another loss but then it really got into us, it got to us when we realized that that was it for the season, that it was in the past now, and all the seniors on the team for sure knew that feeling, it mostly just didn’t feel real and we didn’t expect it so soon,” Valencia said.
Manjarrez added, “The emotions that were felt after the loss to West Chi was pretty hard. I felt like we failed the seniors, and seeing the seniors cry was heartbreaking.”
Even with some setbacks, Leyden had a strong season finishing the year (19-4-1) while nationally 82nd, 10th in the state and regional champions; Gio feels that the team stood out, “What I really thought made our team stand out this season was how after last year we lost most of the team and people thought that we wouldn’t be able to do as much as last year’s team could. While we didn’t make as much progress as we hoped, we were still a very good team, being in the top 10 in the state for a while.” Valencia said.
“Our chemistry in the game wasn’t the absolute best at the start of preseason for obvious reasons, such as us having a mostly different team coming into the 2025/26 season.” Valencia added. “But as friends we also weren’t the best at first, but by the time the season started our game chemistry didn’t get much better. For sure, as friends we all knew each other and we couldn’t have asked for a different team.”
Leadership from the captains helped the team stay motivated. “Our captains were probably the ones who kept us motivated out of the team by always keeping track with practices and helping us and coaches out, and also our school’s soccer reputation. We mostly wanted to show that Leyden soccer was still going to be a tough opponent,” Valencia added.
Valencia also reflected on his favorite memory of the season: “I will for sure remember senior night because that was probably my favorite game, sportwise and environment wise. Every senior night is always memorable, but mine just felt special the way a lot of people I knew were there, and how the team helped celebrate us seniors. I wouldn’t change that game one bit.”
Leyden pushed hard in the final minutes, creating scoring chances, but West Chicago held on to win 2-1, ending Leyden’s season.
Despite the loss, Leyden looks forward to next season, hoping to build on the success of this year and keep their strong soccer tradition alive.
