After three successful seasons, Milton Boys’ Varsity Soccer, also known as Samba, entered this fall ready to tackle the challenges of the season. Through strong senior leadership and steady improvement on the field, Samba has begun the season with high expectations for what the group can accomplish.
Varsity Boys Soccer Coach Chris Kane described the team’s start of the season as “fantastic,” emphasizing the role the upperclassmen have played in bringing the new group together. In particular, he credited the seniors with “setting a positive and welcoming tone from the very start of the season,” helping new players settle into the program. That leadership has stood out to players as well. Cameron Mayhew ’28 described the team as “organized” and “highly skilled,” with players constantly “holding each other accountable” to maintain a high level. He especially emphasized the intentional leadership from the seniors and the team’s communication on the field. According to Mayhew, having players constantly communicating “makes everything easier” and has contributed to a strong environment.
Despite the success of the previous three seasons, Kane explained that Samba is trying to prevent past results from becoming a source of pressure. Instead, Kane has continued to emphasize its core values and daily improvement.
“We have been fortunate to have had a lot of success within the ISL over recent years, but we are more focused on our approach and our daily work rather than external outcomes,” Kane explained. He added that the team so far has done “an outstanding job of getting better every day.”
That improvement has already been tested against several strong opponents. After a disappointing 3-2 preseason loss against Worcester Academy, Samba opened its official season at home against Phillips Exeter on September 16, earning its first victory of the year. Mayhew described the win as especially rewarding because it officially began the team’s season on a positive note. The team then faced Northfield Mount Hermon at Suffield Academy, battling through rainy conditions to a 1-1 draw. Three days later, Milton returned to Berylson Field for a matchup against Andover. In a closely contested game, the winning goal was scored in the final minutes. Kane highlighted the wins against Exeter and Andover as two of the team’s most significant early successes as both schools are consistently strong competition.
Not every result, however, has reflected what the team believes it is capable of. Samba later drew against Berkshire in a game that Mayhew felt did not represent the team’s best performance. Landon Muzquiz ’28 explained that “[they] have had a few unlucky ties where [they] massively outplayed [their] opponents, struggling to score goals despite [their] amazing attacking line.” Muzquiz then stated that the team has worked specifically on “building in the final third and finishing [their] chances.” Against Thayer on September 30, that training translated directly onto the field, where Milton earned a 4-0 victory against Thayer Academy on the turf, with captain Ethan Fine ’27 scoring three goals. He later described this game as the team’s “first exceptional performance” and said that the group is still capable of playing at an even higher level. Although Samba lost many experienced players from previous seasons, Kane feels the team's strong leadership and team dynamic give it the ability to continue competing at a high level. Kane especially credited the senior class as a whole, while highlighting captains Fine and Nicholas Pittarelli ’27 for being “especially central” to the season's strong start. For the rest of the season, the team’s objective is to play their best, to continue improving, and to “go as far as possible.” Muzquiz believes Samba has the potential to compete for an ISL title and advance into the NEPSACs postseason. For Kane, however, the larger goal remains, as it has been for the previous years, to create “the most positive environment possible” for players to enjoy competing together.