Senior forward Saul Munoz loves soccer.

“My favorite thing about soccer is honestly just the atmosphere about it – the competitiveness that everyone puts on the field,” Munoz said.

He is focused on leading the Panthers’ soccer team back to the semifinals of the Class 6A tournament.

“We’ve all put in a lot of work, especially this last week. I’m excited, and hoping to go back where we were last year and even better,” Munoz said. “We’re just excited to kick off the season with a good start.”

The boys soccer team opens it season against Wichita Northwest tonight at Panther Stadium. Junior varsity plays at 5 p.m., and varsity follows around 6:30 p.m. 

Munoz will start, playing forward, right and left wing.

Coach Paul Burke looks forward to redemption this year, but is concerned about how the team will start.

“We’re a little banged up this early, and we weren’t as deep as we were last year – that was kind of our get-out-of-jail free card,” Burke said. “We’ve got at least one guy sitting out for sure, maybe another guy only playing half the time — praying Saul can make it through the whole game.”