Photo by Akemi Kwan
Last Friday, the boys’ soccer team suffered a hard-fought 3-1 loss against the Serra Padres.
Coming out of the gate, both teams failed to find a rhythm. Each side struggled to maintain possession in the middle of the field, which haltered their offensive build-ups and created a choppy flow. It wasn’t until 25 minutes into the first half, after M-A turned the ball over in their defensive third of the field and gave Serra a fast break, that the Padres were able to score the first goal of the game. This goal gave Serra the momentum and control of the game for the remainder of the half.
The first half also set a physical tone. Players from both teams consistently made hard tackles to try to win the ball. This rough style of play led to the pivotal injury of junior captain Manases Lara, who suffered a concussion after colliding with one of his teammates as they fought to gain possession from an opposing midfielder.
After suffering the injury, Lara stated, “I wanted to push through but dizziness was all that I felt. I told my coach that I didn’t want to risk the rest of our match, so I sat out for the rest of the game.”
Going into the second half, the Bears knew that they had to establish control of the possession battle and test the opposing keeper more often to gain momentum. They started strong, creating multiple opportunities by sending the ball down the wings and crossing the ball into the box. Just ten minutes into the half, senior Hewitt Stevenson was able to capitalize on one of these set-ups and rocketed the ball into the top right corner of the goal.
“When I got the ball, I saw a lane of space open up and thought ‘why not’. I tried to shoot with power and height, and the ball went in,” Stevenson said.
With the game tied, each team fought hard to find the leading goal. Both teams successfully generated several good opportunities, but strong goaltending kept the game knotted at 1-1. However, with just over ten minutes remaining in the game, the Padres found the back of the net off of a corner kick. They scored their third goal shortly after on a one-on-one opportunity, diminishing any hopes for the Bears to come back.
Reflecting on the match, Lara said, “I was disappointed that we lost, but this game served as a learning experience, which will allow our team to come back stronger in future games.”
The Bears will look to bounce back this Tuesday when they play the Menlo Knights at 4:30 p.m.
