By Justin Hsieh and Karen Phan
This afternoon, the boys’ varsity soccer team dealt a crushing defeat to the Segerstrom Jaguars, going 5-2 in their fourth game of the preseason. Despite a sporadic beginning, the boys stepped up a powerful offense that led them to their victory, their next step as they shape up for the season.
The first half opened with the Jaguars in immediate possession of the ball. Despite periodic Baron forays into the offensive zone, Segerstrom’s offensive pressure kept Fountain Valley at bay for 15 minutes until senior William Oakes sent the ball from the center of the field to junior Sebastian Rus, who received the ball to score the Barons’ first goal.
Fountain Valley remained on the defensive following Rus’ goal. In the 20th minute, the Jaguars scored to tie up the game. Although Segerstrom kept up their strong offensive plays, Fountain Valley began to play more confidently, ultimately taking a second goal in the 26th minute. After junior Dylan Duong took a header that resulted in the ball rebounding off the crossbar, sophomore Masin Marini followed up to put the Barons back in the lead at 2-1.
Marini’s goal further energized the Barons, who surged into Segerstrom’s half of the field. Within five minutes, the Barons scored their final goal of the half as senior Omar Shukairy made a clean drive into the Jaguars’ net. The Barons played out the rest of the half on Segerstrom’s side of the field, keeping up the pressure until the half closed with a score of 3-1.
“The first half was decent,” said junior Sebastian Rus. “We started off a bit shaky, but after the first goal, the win was never in doubt.”
Both teams entered the second half with high energy, but the Barons’ momentum from the first half carried over and they secured the ball from the start. Fountain Valley made strong efforts to bring the ball up the field with solid control, connected passes and clear intention; ultimately forcing a successful penalty kick from Rus 10 minutes into the half.
After five minutes of fighting for the ball, the Jaguars gained possession and scored on a penalty kick, bringing the score to 4-2. Although the game entered a stalemate, the Barons kept an edge with consistent victories in 50/50 tackles and multiple strong moves on goal from Marini, Oakes and senior Austin Penella. The Barons finally cracked through with a goal from senior Dakota Whitsel, who took the last touch during a scramble near the Jaguars’ net.
“The second half was better; we moved the ball faster and we were able to rotate a lot of players in,” said Rus. “We kept possession of the ball better than we have in past games and we finished our chances. We need to continue improving our defense, who played solid today but just made a couple mistakes that led to the two goals.”
Fountain Valley forced Segerstrom onto the defensive for the rest of the game. Marini, Oakes and Penella led the Barons’ final advances and the game ended with a dominating Baron victory of 5-2.
“I think it was a good turnaround game for us,” said Assistant Coach Jon Lloyd. “And we got everyone playing time, making sure that the subs are sharp enough – that was a bonus here as well. We have our senior game coming up on Friday so we’re going to get the seniors in as well.”
The boys will play Kennedy High School at home for their senior game this Friday at 3 p.m.
