Gullo Athlete of the Month -- The Woodlands' Jordan Lewallen

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Jordan Lewallen

The Woodlands Soccer

By Austin Staton

@astaton

Football might king in Texas, but to the rest of the world, the beautiful game is soccer.

Hans Kleinschmidt, head coach at The Woodlands, has built a winning mindset balanced with a strong tradition of success. With several deep runs in the state playoffs over the past decade, there is one thing that has eluded his Highlanders – a state championship.

For senior defender Jordan Lewallen, his goal for his final season in a Highlanders’ uniform is simple – finish the season as the last team standing.

“I want to push my team as far as they can go this year,” says Lewallen, a 2012 all-District performer. “We’ve worked hard this preseason to push each other and we have a big heart as a team. We all have a lot of fun because that is what the sport is all about, but I want to make sure that we do well when it counts.”

After falling to Dallas Jesuit in the fourth round of the state playoffs last season, the Highlanders are looking to improve upon their 19-4-6 overall record while taking the program to new heights. To elevate their game to the next level, Lewallen says that his squad has worked on completing the task at hand.

“We’ve worked on being more consistent in the back and playing more Barcelona style with short balls and being able to attack more,” he says. “We had a little bit of trouble last season finishing so we’ve been focusing on our shots on goal this year.”

For the senior standout who is currently evaluating collegiate options from schools like North Carolina State, Mary Hardin-Baylor andHardin–Simmons, he has witnessed the game of soccer grow in the Greater Housto- area since arriving at The Woodlands.

“There has been growing excitement at school and more people are now asking when games are,” Lewallen says. “It’s a big thing to be a part of a program like The Woodlands. To be able to come to a school and know that you’re going to be on a squad that’s always consistent and always comes out and plays tough, it’s an honor.”

For Lewallen and the Highlanders, their quest for a state title begins with the Kilt Cup on Jan. 10

“I’m out here to have a lot of fun and work as hard as I can,” Lewallen says of his final season. “We’re always going to play tough teams so we have to be consistent on how we play every week and on the week days we have to get better at what we weren’t as good at.”