After a rough season last year, the Texas Wesleyan men’s soccer team has returned with a record of 4-3 and the drive to compete in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament.

Freshmen sports science major Jermaine Morris, 19, said the team has had a decent season so far.

“I’ve mainly played two games because I was ineligible by the NAIA to play, but my teammates have done a pretty good job on performing well,” Morris said.

Morris said the team has been doing exceptionally well, and that he thinks that they will go on to conference tournament, which is in early November.

However, he still has nerves about it.

“I just want the team to do well,” Morris said. “I think we have a pretty good shot in making conference.”

Morris is an international student who has recently had to make the move to the United States from London, England, and he said that it has been hard.

“My family is away, and it is sad because I wish I could be there with them,” he said.

Morris says that he depends on his soccer mates for rides and as emotional support.

Another member of the team is Johnny Avila, 20, a junior computer science major, who also believes the team will advance to conference.

“I really think we have a good team this year, and I honestly think we will advance to conference,” Avila said.

Avila said one of the reasons he is confident that his teammates will push through to conference is because of captain Kian Hosseinpour, 21, a senior marketing major. He said Hosseinpour has been battling his own battles with his leg injury, but still plays.

“I think it is remarkable because he is our leader and he set the example for us, and the fact that he has an injury and still plays, it is truly amazing,” Avila said.

Business and marketing major George Battersby, 21, is good friends with Hosseinpour; he said Hosseinpour puts in a lot of hours on the field.

“I think he has been doing a good job and it is exemplarily how he has been playing with an injury,” Battersby said.

Battersby has been on the team since he came as a freshman to Wesleyan in 2015 and has been starter for the team ever since. He said the soccer team is not only a team but a family as well. This closeness has fostered his strong admiration of Hosseinpour.

“He works very hard both on and off the field,” Battersby said. “(He) leads by example on the field with his effort and skill and then in the classroom he always gets the best grades.”

The Rams’ next game is 7 p.m. Sept. 25 against Wayland Baptist University in Plainview. Their next home game is Sept. 29 at noon against Central Christian College at Martin Field.