With just three seniors on the squad, including himself, Payton Caja wasn’t sure what to expect from his Highlands Christian Academy boys soccer teammates.
“Considering what we had to go through this year, the season was amazing,” said Caja, who was called on to lead a team of mostly middle-schoolers on the soccer pitch. The Knights had seven middle-schoolers, including a fifth-grader, and five freshmen.
“I came out of cross country season and I saw tryouts going on and I asked my coach if we were going to have a team,” Caja said. “The fact that we made it all the way to regional semifinals was really unbelievable. All of our seniors stepped up and led the way.”
“Payton was in a position where he had to lead his team that was made up of seven middle-schoolers on the roster,” said Highlands Christian coach Davidson Loriston, who wasn’t sure at the beginning of the season if they would have enough players to field a team this season.
“His leadership on and off the field was very important for us throughout the year,” Loritson added. “His work ethic was the key to our season so Payton led by example by his hard work on and off the field and that meant everything to the team.”
Caja scored three goals against the state semifinalist Westminster Academy in three games. He scored twice in a 5-4 loss and added another in a 3-1 loss in the district championship game against the Lions.
It was his three goals in 15 minutes that were his most memorable in a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Trinity Christian Academy in the regional quarterfinal. Caja finished the year with 14 goals and four assists for the Knights who finished the season at 7-6-3.
“I had never scored a hat trick in a game before,” said Caja, who is still fielding offers for college opportunities. “It was crazy. After I got the three goals, I thought I could do anything.”
“Even before the season, I knew this was my senior year and I was going to have to step up,” said Caja, who sports a GPA of 4.6 in the classroom. “We lost like five seniors last year, and it really didn’t make me nervous, it was in the back of my mind that I was going to have to perform well if our team was going to do well.”
