The 2024-2025 varsity soccer season was a year of growth, challenges, and achievements for Jesuit High School Sacramento, that ended the season with a record of 4-7-8. Despite being a largely new team, the players showed determination and unity, battling through every match to earn a playoff spot.
Contributing to this fresh team was a new coach: for the first season in 46 years, the team was without Mr. Paul Rose. Taking up this opening was Varsity Head Coach Joshua Palone '99. Being the new face of the Jesuit soccer program, Coach Palone finished off his first season strong, fostering a competitive nature.
"We played every team to the final whistle and battled in each match," Coach Palone said. "We were one or two plays away from finishing third in the SFL, and that is a huge deal."
Defender Joseph Henning '25 agrees that the season had successes and challenges, but believes the team came together well. One moment where the team earned a hard-fought success was in a match against Oak Ridge High School, toward the end of the season.
"My favorite moment of the season was definitely when we played Oak Ridge at home," Henning said. "We came away with the victory 2-1, and that was really the moment where we knew we'd clinched playoffs, and it was just a great team bonding moment."
One of the team's biggest challenges came in a loss against Davis High School, where Jesuit struggled early but learned from the experience. This loss motivated the team to work harder and stay focused.
"We started off well, and then we got punched in the mouth," Henning said. "But after that game [against Davis], we rallied and got a good result against Whitney."
By the end of the season, the team had developed strong bonds, with upperclassmen mentoring the younger players.
"We only had about five returning players from last year – basically a brand new team," Henning explained. "But I think we gelled pretty easily. The upperclassmen brought in some of the lowerclassmen, and we all got along really well at the end of the season."
Coach Palone looks toward the next season with a deep ambition. With many key players returning, Jesuit soccer is ready to build on this year's growth and aim for even greater success in the future.
"We will have a strong core of returners, and we aim to continue to develop players who play with J-High pride," Coach Palone said.
