Peak Performer of the Week: Vista Ridge’s Carson Tapia helping Wolves win on pitch
In only two years on Vista Ridge’s varsity soccer team, Carson Tapia has been integral to the program’s growth.
Tapia has 13 goals in Vista Ridge’s first four games of the 2023 season. He scored a season-high four in the Wolves’ most recent 5-0 win over Palmer on Monday.
He made his varsity debut as a sophomore, scoring 23 goals and helping Vista Ridge finish 10-5. This year, the Wolves are 3-1.
Tapia is the Peak Performer of the Week.
“Working with my team and being able to get opportunities from my teammates around me, and my coach, have helped me get as many chances as I can,” Tapia said.
When Tapia stepped onto Vista Ridge’s campus as a freshman, the coaching staff knew they had a star — but they didn’t put him into the spotlight immediately.
Coach Howard Furman opted to place him on the junior varsity roster instead of varsity. Furman saw JV as an opportunity to become acclimated to high school soccer while avoiding an injury.
“I said, ‘Trust me with what I’m doing,’” Furman said. “I have a responsibility to keep kids safe and get the best out of them.”
Fast-forward to the present day, and it’s clear that decision paid off: Tapia was a star in his first season of varsity and the all-league team as a sophomore.
Tapia believes he could have been a difference-maker on varsity as a freshman. But he doesn’t look back at his path with regret.
“My time playing on JV as a freshman was to really build me up so I could get used to playing in high school,” Tapia said. “That really prepared me well.”
And it’s not just Tapia’s hard work on the pitch that has elevated his game. It’s his hard work in other places, too.
Tapia has run track and field since his freshman year. He finished eighth in the 100-meter dash at the 2023 State Track and Field Meet and was a member of Vista Ridge’s state-winning 4×100 relay team.
And this year, Tapia joined the football team as a kicker.
Those sports have allowed him to improve as a soccer player.
“With track, I really have just been able to get a bunch of balls through and behind the defense so I can run onto it and score,” Tapia said. “And my leg has felt a lot stronger since I started kicking.”
Thankfully for Tapia, track and field is in the spring. And while football and soccer conflict, Tapia prioritizes soccer practices and games over football practices and games.
“He works as hard as anybody that we have out here to get better,” Furman said. “It takes a mindset, not just the body, to do that.”
The trajectory of Vista Ridge soccer has been near-linear in recent memory.
The Wolves won just two games in 2020. Then they improved to four in 2021. And last year, Vista Ridge posted a winning record and won 10 games.
Tapia believes that he and his teammates can help Vista Ridge continue its positive trajectory.
“I’m hoping that we can work together and keep playing how we’re playing,” Tapia said. “We started off pretty good, so I’m hoping that we can keep playing well.”
Vista Ridge junior Carson Tapia is the Peak Performer of the Week after scoring 13 goals in his first four games of the 2023 season.
Vista Ridge junior Carson Tapia is the Peak Performer of the Week after scoring 13 goals in his first four games of the 2023 season.
Vista Ridge junior Carson Tapia is the Peak Performer of the Week after scoring 13 goals in his first four games of the 2023 season.
Vista Ridge junior Carson Tapia is the Peak Performer of the Week after scoring 13 goals in his first four games of the 2023 season.