‘Putting the chimney on the house’: Riverside soccer not dwelling on new adversity in 2024

Winners of three straight state championships, the Riverside boys soccer team has faced more adversity than normal this season.

For the first time since 2018, the Warriors didn’t win their region. They carry five losses into the Class 4-A playoffs, their highest total since that same year.

The No. 2 seed from 4-A Region 2, a road playoff game likely awaits Riverside—something unheard of for a program with so much recent success.

But don’t count out the Warriors just yet.

“Everybody on this team still has their heads in the right places,” said Riverside head coach Scott Columbia. “We’ve been building to where we want to be all season. With the playoffs coming, now we’re putting the chimney on the house.”

The Warriors laid a few more bricks on that house Friday night. With a 4-0 thumping of Christ Church, Riverside showed it’s still just as dangerous as ever—despite the relative challenges faced this season.

Sophomore midfielder Marcus Smith scored twice, while seniors Andres Giraldo and Lorenzo Vega both tallied a goal to help the Warriors get back to winning ways.

“We were coming off two straight losses, so we needed this one,” said Giraldo. “This was like a restart for us before we start the playoffs.”

“It’s very evident that this team knows how to fight. They fight every game, no matter what,” said Columbia. “That’s hard to teach.”

Coming into Friday, the Warriors were just one week removed from their region championship against Wade Hampton—a match that saw Riverside equalize late in the second half, only to eventually fall short in penalty kicks.

“That was tough,” said Giraldo. “We felt like we had that game. But now, we have to use it as motivation to carry us forward.”

Columbia says his team will have no problem letting the adversity fuel them.

“After that Wade Hampton match, we talked for a few minutes, and then I told them ‘It’s over. Now we move forward and worry about the next game,’” said Columbia. “And that’s exactly what they’ve done since then.

“These guys have bought into the mentality of taking one game at a time. That’s the mindset we’ve always had here, and it’s brought us a lot of success.”