Bearcats face a 2-1 defeat in the CIF semifinals
This year was a tough year for the boys varsity soccer team; however they persisted and were able to make it into CIF as the 15th seed.
Previous to this the team won their games against the Arroyo Grande Eagles and the Foothill Trojans.
- AG: 1 – 0 (W)
- Foothill: 1 – 0 (W)
Riding that high the team came into the game “overconfident”, according to captain Tyler Woodard.
As the rain poured and winds gusted the boys fought against the Golden Valley Bulldogs. The rain and the wet and muddy field faced the players with a challenge they had to adapt to.
Another circumstance the team had to adapt to was the absence of their head coach, Omar McPherson.
In the beginning of the first half, senior Ricardo Navarro was sadly injured and escorted off of the field. However, freshman Elijah Hernandez stepped up and replaced Navarro in the mid field.
Saul Castro scored the team’s goal in the second half of the game.
As the second half came to a close the game was tied 1 – 1, and the team went into overtime.
In the last two minutes of overtime Golden Valley scored a goal and won the game.
From the offense perspective, captain Adan Sandoval described the game as “Kind of hard because they had four guys on me and the other striker at all times due to our 4-4-2 formation.”
From the defense perspective, captain Tyler Woodard described the game as a defender as “Overwhelming because they were pushing a lot of their guys high up into our line. There was also a lack of communication among defense for a lot of it, and I think that’s what led us to conceding.”
Both captains agreed that the mid field players, Kai Lundy, Artemio Puga, Elijah Hernandez, and goal scorer Saul Castro were the MVP’s of the game.
As a send off note on the game Sandoval said, “As a team I’m still really proud of what we accomplished. They can’t take that away from us. Going in as the 15th seed I feel like we proved ourselves a lot and I’m really proud of it.”
Woodard is proud that the team at least got this far in CIF and said, “I have nothing but respect for my teammates, and I wouldn’t have wanted to go to battle with anyone else.I wish we made it to the finals, but everybody gave it their all, and that’s all I could ever ask from my team. Sometimes that’s just how it goes in soccer.”
