Sophomore starter Jayce McCain previously said that coming out with more energy was something the boys’ soccer team needed to improve on.
And on Friday, Oct. 16, the Cavs did just that when they played the Cristo Rey Saints.
The boys pressured the Saints’ side from the drop. After a great series of passes, the Cavs were able to work the ball into scoring position.
Junior Jesus Galindo-Sanchez took a shot from the left side of the field that went wide right, but junior Emil Erickson was there for the clean-up goal, putting the Cavs up 1-0.
After each team attempting to get into scoring position, the Cavs stormed down the field once again. After working the ball around the corner, Saints fouled Erickson inside the box, resulting in a goal kick.
Sophomore B.J. Askew took the free kick, which senior goalie Brad Petchauer said was “easy for him.”
Askew took the kick, and as expected, it sailed into the back of the net, putting the Cavs up 2-0.
Trying to recover, the Saints fought back with pushes towards the Cavs’ goal. Freshman Bennett Sackheim committed a foul on a Saints player who had a break away towards the goal.
Fortunately, all that resulted was a free kick for the Saints that they were unable to convert into a goal.
With a lead, the Cavs grew overconfident. As Cristo Rey got into scoring position, the Cavs’ defense left a man open at the top of the box.
His shot went to the far post of Petchauer and curved away from him.
“Although I got a hand on it, the shot was just too clean,” Petchauer said. This goal decreased the Cavs’ lead to 2-1.
The scoreless second half was less thrilling. The Cavs were mostly in control of the ball for the half, which meant that the Saints didn’t have much time of possession.
Petchauer attributed the scoreless second half to the Saints’ good defense.
“We had a lot of opportunities that either went just over the goal or were deflected by their defense,” he said.
“We played great the second half and had good passes, but we just couldn’t find the right shot. Their keeper also had two nice saves.”
Towards the end of the game, Galindo was given a yellow card for standing too close to a Saints player taking a free kick. Coach Matt Vargo was livid about the call because a Saints player had done the same thing and was not penalized.
Sadly, this was the most exciting event of the second half as the game ended shortly after.
McCain attributes the victory to being able to play at home with more support. The bleachers were lined with students, parents and teachers cheering on the boys.
“Even though we played at our field last time, we didn’t have many fans there,” McCain said. “It helps us come out with more energy when people are cheering for us.”
Petchauer said the Cavs still have considerably large flaws in their game.
“We need to finish on more corner kicks,” said Petchauer. “We have a lot of trouble converting when we should be able to get easy points from them.”
Sophomore starter Theo Kaufman agreed.
“We definitely need to work on finishing our shots and putting them on frame,” he said.
The Cavs’ next game is at home on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 4 p.m. against Faith Christian, whom they previously beat 8-1.
—By Jake Longoria
