By Tyler Sonderholzer
On Monday, the varsity boys’ soccer team beat the Beckman Patriots 1-0 in their second preseason game and first win of the preseason.
“Anytime we win, I’m happy… we’re happy we got the first win of the season,” head coach Jason Smith said. “So we have one win and one loss, or one and one. I think we can build off of this.”
The first half of the game was back-and-forth, with the ball being mainly on the Barons’ side. Great defensive plays by junior Myles Ponce and senior Alex Pham prevented many of the Patriots’ scoring attempts.
The Barons had their own offensive chances too. Junior Daniel Oakes attempted a shot but the ball was deflected out of play by a Patriot defender. Shortly after, a counterattack and header by junior Devin La Clair with an assist from freshman Drew Payne led the Barons to a goal, bumping the score to 1-0.
After the goal, the Patriot offense led a couple of counterattacks, but stellar defense by the Barons stopped them from scoring. Outstanding plays from sophomore Max Fister, such as a great tackle, prevented a cross and junior goalie Austin Quach made a great save, stopping several goals.
With the Patriots being plagued by offside calls, the Barons had several scoring chances but could not capitalize on them. Just before the first half ended, the Baron defense blocked a free-kick after a foul was committed right outside of the box, further cementing their defensive ability. The Barons were mainly, and successfully, on defense throughout the rest of the first half.
The second half began worrisomely for the Barons as Quach collided with a Patriot while he was aiming for the ball. He stayed in the game for only several more minutes until he was hurt again. He was subbed out of the game and replaced by junior Adam Guillen.
Senior Andrew Olivares made a couple of good defensive plays by preventing a cross from connecting with a Patriot and blocking a shot on the goal. Later in the half, freshman Nolan Olivares created a good scoring chance by pushing up-field with the ball, however, it was thwarted by the Patriot defense.
La Clair was also injured in a battle for the ball and had to be taken out of the game.
The defense continued to stop the Patriots from scoring with a great save by Guillen and by junior Jack Todd breaking up a Patriot attack. The Barons committed several fouls giving the Patriots opportunities to score, all of which were stopped by the Barons.
The Barons had several offensive chances to expand their lead including a header from senior Marcus Edsell that narrowly missed the post.
“A couple of unlucky chances. Marcus’ [shot] right in front of the net just got unlucky, ” La Clair said. “I mean, overall, we just played super well and the boys did really well.”
One of the best chances for the Patriots was a shot well outside of the box that just narrowly went over the bar. Guillen also made another save and the defense stayed firm to close out the game.
“I don’t think we were great today but we showed grit in terms of keeping them away from our goal so the shutout was good,” Smith said. “So it’s good to do that, but we need to find ways to be more creative and create more chances and get more goals.”
When the final whistle blew, the Barons were victorious 1-0, snatching their first win of the preseason and improving their record to 1-1.
Their next game will be on Friday, Dec. 10 at 3:15 p.m. at Fountain Valley High School against Trabuco Hills High School.
