He makes a move around the defender.

He shoots.

He scores!

GOAL!!!

This is exactly what the Simpson soccer teams are doing this season, winning games and scoring a lot of goals as they rip through the non-conference schedule.

The men are coming off a 15-5-2 season and a tie for third place at 7-2 in conference action while the women were 15-4-2 and a tie for second at 7-2 in 2002 conference play.

Coach Aziz Haffar is in his ninth year as the men’s soccer coach and in his eighth year as the women’s soccer coach.

He has been happy so far with what the men’s team has done because they’ve made other teams look at the Storm as a serious threat.

“We have really surprised quite a few people,” said Haffar.

Consistency and playing well with each other has helped the Storm get off to a great start, which may ultimately lead to the future goals of the team.

“We want to continue to play well, contend for the title (Iowa Conference Championships) and qualify for the NCAA playoffs,” said Haffar.

The men’s team is currently off to their best start in school history at 6-0-1 and is currently the only team in the Iowa Conference without a loss.

The Storm is also ranked sixth in the West Region and looking for their first playoff berth since the 2000 season.

Haffar said that the men’s biggest competition will be Luther, who is ranked fourth in the West Region, and Loras in the Iowa Conference.

The Storm will need to continue to play well to contend against the defending champion Norseman who have won six out of the past seven championships.

Sophomore Angel Salcido has contributed greatly to the teams’ early success. Scoring five goals against California Tech, he received Iowa Conference player of the week for the week ending Sept. 7.

Salcido’s five-goal effort is a new Simpson record, which was previously four goals held by four former Storm athletes.

The women’s soccer team is off to a 3-2 start this season. Coach Haffar says this team has a youthful look with only two seniors, Lindsay Clark and Erin Goettl.

Clark and Goettl are also the co-captains for the Storm.

“We have such a young roster,” said Haffar. “Match experience will be a key for us.”

Haffar has 25 women on the roster, with 16 of them being freshman.

Freshmen play a key part of the women’s soccer team since half of the starters on the squad are freshman, with many of them seeing ample playing time.

“We have a lot of good talent, we just need to put it together,” said Goettl.

Goettl led the team last year in goals and was tied for first last year in assists while Clark was second for the team with goals and also tied for leading in assists a year ago.

This year the team has similar goals to the men’s team.

“We want to win conference and come together as a team,” said Goettl.

With six goals and five assists, Goettl leads the Storm this year in both categories.

Like the men, Loras and Luther are also the top competition this year in conference play for the women’s team.

The Storm women are in action at home against Upper Iowa on Oct. 1 while the men are at home next on Sept. 27 against Colorado College.