By Kim Ly
This Friday afternoon, boys’ varsity soccer played against the Los Alamitos Griffins and was defeated in a 0-3 loss. The game was defined by a constant back-and-forth fight for the ball with the Barons ultimately being a bit more on defense.
“Our hopes [for the game were] that we would have better build-up play from our offense, playing the ball to feet; getting more numbers up the field and playing in their end a little bit more—getting more chances. I thought we did a good job of that. We were playing against a good team but we are improving and that’s the best our offense has looked in a little while so I’m happy with the improvement, but of course, we got a long way to go,” assistant coach Jonathan Lloyd said.
Some notable players include senior Masin Marini and junior Devin La Clair, who led the Barons’ offensive charge, and junior goalie Maximo Garcia who managed to stop several of the Griffins’ attempts to score.
The game started with a fast-paced fight for the ball; it constantly switched sides with both teams attempting to make goals within the first few minutes. Seven minutes and 83 seconds into the game, Marini attempted to score but unfortunately, the ball went out of bounds. Afterward, countless attempts were made to score from both sides but neither were able to finish through. The next 25 minutes of the game continued in the same manner; a continuous back-and-forth with the Barons more often than not on defense.
Several steals from Los Alamitos allowed the Griffins to put pressure onto the Barons. In response, the Barons kept up a strong defense and prevented the Griffins from scoring multiple times. Some key defensive plays were made by senior John Pham who put pressure onto the Griffins’ offense.
With five minutes and 11 seconds left on the clock, the Barons were fouled and Los Alamitos was given a free kick where they managed to successfully score the first point of the game.
The boys made several more attempts to score throughout the final few minutes of the first half but their attempts fell through. The first half ended 0-1 in favor of the Griffins.
The second half opened with the Barons immediately on the defense. Three minutes and 37 seconds into the second half, La Clair attempted to score but his shot ultimately fell through and was stopped by the Griffins’ goalie. For the remainder of the second half, the Barons mainly remained on defense. The Barons were able to regain possession of the ball a few times but struggled to push a full offensive play.
At 26 minutes and 58 seconds, a scuffle for the ball near the Barons’ goal ultimately led to Los Alamitos gaining their second goal of the game. With 25 minutes left in the game and the scoreboard standing at 0-2 in favor of the Griffins, a fierce battle at the halfway line began to ensue. Both sides battled for the ball for several minutes until Los Alamitos ultimately scored at 16 minutes and seven seconds.
With 15 minutes remaining, the scoreboard stood at 0-3 in favor of the Griffins.
A few more shots from both sides were attempted but neither team successfully made a goal. After a foul from Los Alamitos at eight minutes and 47 seconds, junior Daniel Oakes was given a free kick but was stopped by the Griffins’ goalie. The game came to a close and ended 0-3 in favor of Los Alamitos.
“I thought we could have done better. Let’s be honest, the result doesn’t really reflect the whole game overall. We’ve had a lot of injuries and stuff with like COVID this past week. So it didn’t help, but I thought we did pretty well overall,” Marini said.
The boys’ next game will be an away game against Corona Del Mar on Jan. 19 at 5 p.m.
