The Gloucester High School boys’ soccer team finished the regular season 12-2 and is gearing up to host the VHSL Regional Tournament for the first time in school history. The Dukes are second in the region behind Maury and are looking to advance to states in front of their home crowd.

“We took losses to Kecoughtan and Menchville,” said coach Craig Raines, “both crushing defeats because we had total ball control the whole game, just cases where one mistake killed us.” Raines said he believes the team learned from those early defeats and is ready to go on a tear in the playoffs.

Raines holds his team to a high standard. His jovial attitude on the practice pitch seems to have cultivated a positive relationship with his players, but the jokes end the moment the team begins an inter-squad scrimmage with the undefeated Gloucester junior varsity footballers.

“Second is nothing,” he said matter-of-factly. “It puts us second in the regi...