./;lEmily Carman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Casteel High School for AZPreps365.com

Casteel's boys soccer team remains undefeated after an impressive offensive performance against Willow Canyon Tuesday night which saw eight goals from eight different players in an 8-0 shutout.

 In honor of Senior Night, the Colts’ starting lineup consisted of all senior players.   

It took time for Casteel (10-0) to find its rhythm against Willow Canyon (1-7) with the unusual lineup. 

Though the Colts generally employ a seasoned lineup, many of the seniors were first-time starters. The asynchronous starting lineup led to a low scoring first half, 3-0. 

“I don’t think the first half represented what we can do and who we are since we did have all seniors playing,” Casteel coach Greg Lanman said. “We really rebounded though in that second half.” 

All five second-half goals were scored within a 20-minute time frame.    

The Colts didn’t score their first goal until the 18th minute of the game, though not for lack of trying. 

The team forced eight saves from Willow Canyon goalie James Smith in the first 20 minutes. Smith ended the game with 13 saves.

The Wildcats also saw some great defensive stops from senior center back Cesar Castorena Diaz. At one point, Diaz blocked three consecutive shots in a row from the Casteel offense, laying out into a slide tackle to finally clear the ball away from the 18-yard box. 

Casteel broke the shutout with a goal from senior Dillon Crowder. A defensive clearance by Willow Canyon was collected by senior captain Mason Salonic, who joined the offense from the center back position and laid the ball in front of Crowder for an easy finish. 

The next goal came nearly 10 minutes later after some substitutions from Casteel. 

Colts senior Cole Tyree made just his second appearance of the season with a starting spot in goal. Near the 15-minute mark of the first half, he was pushed into the forward position where he scored his very first goal for Casteel.      

“I’m excited because I’ve been waiting all season for that,” Tyree said. “It’s Senior Night. I got to score. It’s just a good feeling.”

Five more seniors, and one junior, found the net for Casteel. Only three non-seniors earned minutes during the game.    

“The seniors are huge on this team,” Lanman said. “We’ve been building up this program since junior high and obviously you can see that. We’re starting to see great leadership from them.”

The goal to end the game came from senior Ryan Sainz.

Sainz worked tirelessly throughout the game, making several hard runs up the field and taking multiple shots in search of his second goal of the season. Itl finally came in the 66th minute of the game.  

For his efforts, Sainz was named player of the game by Lanman for the first time this season.

“I’m hoping to get more (player of the week honors) before the season is over,” Sainz said. “I’ve been working since eighth grade to get to this level and to earn a state championship with this team.” 

As the Colts advance to 10-0 and remain the No. 1-ranked team in Arizona, the hunger for a state championship title grows stronger, especially in the senior players.  

“It’s exciting to see these players grow, mature and stay focused on what the goal is and that is winning the state championship,” Lanman said. 

Next up, the Wildcats will fight for a second win at North Canyon (2-4-1) at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Colts will look to remain undefeated when they face Desert Mountain (1-6-1) on the road at 6 p.m. Friday.    

“The objective is to finish the season undefeated,” Lanman said. “Then we start a whole new season going into the playoffs.”