It’s not every day that a high school athlete can say he has scored double digit goals in one soccer season. But one player on the boy’s varsity team can proudly say that he has achieved 18 goals, plus five assists.
A prolific scorer and passer, junior Sasha Boussina has been one of the most important players contributing to the soccer team’s success this past season.
Brandon Murphy, Boussina’s coach on the varsity team, said that he is a very intelligent soccer player, which contributes to his strength on the team.
“Sasha is a very athletic, strong, and smart player,” Murphy said. “What’s great about him is that he’s got a great soccer IQ, which means he reads time and space in the game well.”
According to Murphy, Boussina’s ability to “read the game” allows him to finish and score at the end of the play.
“The best part of his game is his speed and explosiveness, which is really outstanding,” Murphy said. “This year, he had a nose for finishing, and he had that striker’s mentality of being hungry and really finding the back of the net.”
Boussina has played on the varsity soccer team for the last two years as a sophomore and junior, although he said most of his improvement has come from his experience on his Marin FC club team.
According to Boussina, playing year round allows him to stay in shape and focus his attention on whichever position he plays, whether it be offense or defense. However, Boussina said that one of the biggest challenges he has had to face is switching positions from defense to offense in club and high school soccer.
“I play center-back on club, so playing forward for high school is a big difference,” Boussina said. “It was difficult to have to switch, so the opportunity to play forward and to have a successful season is a big accomplishment personally.”
According to Murphy, Boussina has a natural ability on the offensive side of the field, but is skilled enough to play in the back and in the front.
“Sasha is a great, dangerous goal-scoring threat this year. But what’s interesting about Sasha is that he played defense on his club team, but grew up playing a forward,” Murphy said. “Because he grew up being a forward, he was going back to what’s more natural for him.”
Boussina has been playing soccer competitively since he first made the Mill Valley U-10 club team when he was seven years old, and hopes to continue playing in college for a Division I team.
After playing for so long, Boussina said he now considers soccer to be a part of his everyday routine.
“Every day I have a training session or we play a game in high school,” Boussina said. “During club season, we play at least three times a week, and over the weekend, I always make time to go on a run to stay in shape.”
According to Boussina, this past season has been the most successful since their MCAL win in 2008. Placing second in the league and making it MCAL semi-finals was considered to be a big accomplishment for the team, despite their loss to Marin Catholic.
“We lost to MC, which was upsetting because they are our biggest rivals. It was a big game for me and emotions were high,” Boussina said. The semifinals were especially intense for Boussina, who got a concussion in a head-to-head fight for the ball during the last play of the game.
“It’s unfortunate to see us lose, but it was an unlucky game when they scored in the last minute,” he said. “I think as a whole we’re a better team, but it’s soccer. Anything can happen on a given day.”
