By Brandon Nguyen
This afternoon, the boys’ varsity soccer team dominated the field against the Marina High School Vikings, finishing with an 8-0 victory.
The first half of the game started aggressively with Fountain Valley in possession of the ball and a contentious back and forth. Fountain Valley quickly set the tempo of the game with senior Malachi Wright taking multiple shots only to be blocked by Marina’s goalie.
Marina remained on the defensive, but Fountain Valley’s control of the ball allowed sophomore Devin La Clair to break through and score the first goal in the 18th minute. This quickly raised the pressure, resulting in a scuffle between senior Andres Rodriguez and Marina senior Seth Cooney.
Wright got another chance at redemption, scoring the second point in the 28th minute. Near the end of the first half, Marina took control of the ball, ending with an unsuccessful kick by Cooney and closing with a score of 2-0.
Fountain Valley carried a strong wave of momentum into the second half with Wright scoring two goals 15 minutes into the half.
“In the first half, I didn’t score when I wanted to. The key is to keep shooting and shooting. I got 3 goals. At the end of the day you have to keep taking your chances,” Wright said.
Tensions rose to their peak with Rodriguez and Marina sophomore Tyler Hyde colliding in a battle over a goalie punt.
After a series of connected passes near the sideline, senior Sebastian Rus found an opening to score past the goalie bringing the score to 5-0. Within four minutes, Marina pierced through Fountain Valley’s defense and brought the ball up.
As Marina neared Fountain Valley’s goal, Marina sophomore David Hallaworth attempted to score only to be caught in the hands of Fountain Valley’s goalie. Possession quickly shifted back to Fountain Valley securing control with senior Dylan Duong forcing a successful kick in the midst of many players.
Marina was forced onto the defensive for the rest of the game, unable to break Fountain Valley’s defense. Aggressive passes between Fountain Valley gave Rus control to score another goal 26 minutes into the second half.
The game finished with junior Grant Bogdanovich scoring another goal, ending with a substantial Baron victory of 8-0.
“It was a good game for us. We moved the ball a lot better today and were able to get everybody playing time. It was a great experience and allowed us to get some confidence against Huntington on Wednesday,” head coach Jason Smith said.
The boys will play Huntington Beach High School at home this Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
