Sam Sherman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Rancho Solano Prep for AZPreps365.com

0-12.

That was the record of the Rancho Solano Prep boy’s soccer team three years ago.

They did not win a single game. 

“It was painful,” coach Izzy Hassan said about the 2024-25 season. 

The Mustangs only scored seven goals on the season. According to Hassan, several of those games ended early due to a mercy rule.

“Those scores could have been a lot worse,” Hassan said.

That season, however painful, now sits as the foundation for Hassan and his players.

“Were we winning? No. Did we score goals? Hardly any,” Hassan said. “But somehow, some way, they saw value in the experience. They saw value in the team.”

That season it was a win just to have a team. Before 2024 the Mustangs had not fielded a boys soccer team in over a decade.

“We had guys that never played soccer before,” Hassan said.

One of those players was goalkeeper Davis Allen, who is now a senior. 

“I played football my whole life and when I came to Rancho they didn’t have a football team so I was like, alright I’ll play soccer,” Allen said.

Allen was one of 12 who signed on for that inaugural season. Allen’s casual attitude was not unique on that team. Many players signed up just looking for something to do.

According to Hassan, that season was more about establishing a team and getting players interested than it was about winning. 

“Our very first year you had guys missing,” Hassan said. “We’d go six guys at practice, five guys at practice, because there really wasn’t much of a standard there.”

“Everything was all over the place,” said senior Sean Salk, team manager and member of the 0-12 squad.

Salk admitted he was one of those players who was often missing from practice. Despite that, Hassan still welcomed him back with open arms to help manage the team.

Seven of those original 12 players are still on the team today.

“The seven guys who went 0-12 and came back, that’s the backbone of the program,” Hassan said.

Hassan praised their commitment and gave them the credit for raising the standards of the team. 

Those players, however, gave that credit right back to their coach.

Captain and senior Evan Grace explained that Hassan inspired him to stay on the team even after the winless season.

“We knew he would never give up on us,” Grace said. “He would never try less just because we lost more.”

Following that 0-12 season, Hassan and the “backbone of the program” were able to see some real improvement. Last season, they had five wins, and they are intent on continuing to improve. 

That improvement is coming on both an individual and group level.

“A big change was some of our players, who joined soccer just for the fun of it, started joining clubs,” junior JC Sabinano said 

Allen is one of those players.

“‘I’ve really come to love the sport and that’s all I do now,” Allen said. 

Allen now plays for the Phoenix Rising FC youth club team and credits his time there for his personal improvement. Allen has only been playing soccer for two years since joining the Rancho Solano team.

The culture has also shifted from one of truancy and disinterest to one of commitment, camaraderie and trust. 

“We all have a passion for this sport,” Grace said. “We lose and win together.”

“The whole team is more focused on this thing, instead of it being a side sport that we do,” fellow team captain Camden Kotila said.

“I feel like we all just trust each other now,” senior Natan Berger said.

Berger is one of several players who joined the team after that winless season, but he acknowledged that there was a clear shift in energy last season from one of pessimism to one of hope.

Now entering a new season, the players are more hopeful than ever. 

“We want to win State,” Davis Allen said.

“I think our team is good enough,” said junior JC Sabinano when asked about the possibility of making the playoffs this season.

Hassan is more conservative with his expectations, aiming for a .500 record for the first time in the program’s history. Hassan acknowledged there are more important things than wins and losses. 

“Winning is not always defined by the scoreboard,” Hassan said. “I feel like if we trained the right way, set the right expectation to get the right mindset — I’m happy with the results after that, whatever they may be.”

This falls in line with Hassan’s player-centric coaching philosophy. Hassan’s goal is to support all of his players beyond the soccer pitch.

“Once you get to know them, know what makes them tick, know their hobbies, their likes, their dislikes, then you can really, really build a connection or a relationship with them,” Hassan said.

Hassan’s commitment, standards and determination are contagious. The team takes after him. 

In just three years the team has gone from non-existent to a ragtag group of perpetual losers to a middling group of scrappy underdogs to a group of confident and connected playoff hopefuls.

Rancho Solano’s culture took kids who never played soccer in their lives and made them stars at their club. It was strong enough to keep over half the players around after a winless season. 

At the heart of that culture is Hassan.

“You can just tell he cares so much about this team and this program,” Allen said.

Hassan again redirects that praise back at his players, giving them the credit for the team’s creation and culture. 

“I feel like they’ve always wanted to play,” Hassan said. “They just needed the right environment.”