Area high school soccer is underway and a couple local teams have started off with impressive records.

The Southeast Bulloch Lady Jackets are 2-4 and 1-1 in region play. Head coach Aimee Civalier feels the young team will only get better as the season progresses.

“We have lost two close matches, Civalier said. “We lost a large group of starters from last season and have had several injuries to key players this season. We are trying to make adjustments with players in different positions and hoping to get some of our injured players back in the second half of the season. We have a strong defense and are trying to produce more offensive production.”

For the boys it has been a rough start but they have seen bright spots on offense from Edwin Figueroa and defensively from Robert Warnock. Head coach Antonio Mireles feels the best is yet to come for the Jackets.

“Our season has been an adventurous one,” Mireles said. “Don’t let our record of 1-4-2 fool you. We have done well, but still have room to improve. In all of the matches we have lost we have been competitive or we have identified why we lost. We are a young team with only five seniors on our roster. We are implementing new strategies, game plans, and tweaking our rosters to improve our chances so that we can compete for region and hopefully an opportunity to represent our region at state.” 

The Statesboro High boys squad is 4-3-1 and currently resides in second place in its region. Keith Howard is the leading scorer with six goals and Tupper Saussy is second with four. Other players that have stood out to head coach Jared Simonin are Gage Landing at center back, and Jude Powell. 

“Jude plays striker for us and doesn't have a goal on the season yet, but his work ethic on the field has created many scoring opportunities,” Simonin said. “Our captains are Keith Howard, Benny Stansel, and Kevin Garcia. The season started slow, but we have won three of our last four games. We have to play all region teams again and look forward to the challenge.  Our goals for the season are to host a playoff game, which means we need to finish first or second in the region. We have set ourselves up to achieve that goal, but still have a lot of work to do to get there.”

Up next Statesboro plays in a tournament on Jekyll Island this weekend and will play some tough teams including North Oconee, Westminster of Augusta and Johns Creek.

The girls’ team is off to a 6-2 overall record and is 4-1 in region play.

“Being 4-1 in region shows improvement from last year,” said coach Sarah Parker. “Each week our players are putting in the work to continue being successful and show their determination each practice and game. 

"Our defense has done amazing. Eva Beth James has done a great job controlling the back line and being successful in shutting teams down. In the midfield Gracen Adams has been creating opportunities to allow our forward Kenzi Hamer to crash the net. I am very proud of all the players individually and the team as a whole and I am looking forward to continuing a great season.”

The most impressive results so far are coming from the north side of the county as the Portal girls are 3-0-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state. The Panther boys are currently 3-1 and ranked No. 10. Next up the boys play at Bryan County with the girls at Johnson County Thursday.

The Bulloch Academy Gator boys are 1-0 after defeating Coastal Home School from Savannah 3-2 Monday. The Gators got goals from Angelo Pereira, Micah McDonald and Sammy Mendez in the win. The Lady Gators are 0-1 and are at Trinity Christian Saturday at 2 p.m.