With a score of 5-1, the coed soccer team dominated the field in its last preseason game against the Freedom Christian Eagles on Sept. 14.
During the first half of the game, the Cavs had many shots on goal, but most missed.
“We weren’t putting the shots on frame; we should’ve had a few goals in the first half,” coach Matt Vargo said.
“Most of the time we kept kicking the ball to the goalie’s hands,” junior Spencer Scott said.
Toward the end of the first half of the game, a volley by Scott off a corner kick by senior Nate Jakobs scored a goal, bringing the Cavs to a 1-0 lead at the half.
According to Vargo, the Eagles’ number seven was really hard to defend, so the Cavs kept a strong defense against him for the second half of the game.
According to sophomore Hayden Boersma, during the second half of the game, Boersma and an Eagles player tripped while fighting over control of the ball. Boersma, struggling to regain balance, accidentally stepped on the player’s calf.
The referee, however, didn’t call a foul.
According to Boersma, the player kept complaining about the referee’s unfairness, causing both Boersma and the player to become frustrated and start playing more aggressively.
That frustration was also apparent in a Freedom Christian spectator.
“(Boersma) was running down the sidelines and fouled (the Eagles player), and the woman yelled, ‘They can just put (Boersma) on the bench if he can’t keep his hands to himself!’” spectator junior Larkin Barnard-Bahn said.
Both players were later switched off to take a break and cool off.
According to Vargo, not long into the second half, Jakobs scored two goals: One was a hard kick, and the other he deflected off the goalie.
Later, senior Jack Christian dribbled down the field and scored with a chip off the far post.
With only 10 minutes left in the game, an Eagle offender burst through four of the Cavs’ defenders and scored, bringing the score to 4-1.
“I definitely wouldn’t want to play (the Eagles defender) one on one; he was a really good player,” Boersma, who was spectating at that time, said.
Near the end of the game, junior Max Kemnitz scored with a header off a corner kick, setting the final score of 5-1.
“We will try and continue to improve with every game,” Vargo said. “Every team we play is different, so sometimes we have to have a different strategy or style of play.”
Scott said he feels confident about starting the league season.
“I think we are definitely ready for league games,” Scott said. “We have a few problems with our defense – not communicating as much as they should be – but we have gradually gotten better at it.”
Christian agreed, saying that the team is ready for the season but still needs to find where the players fit in.
“We have so many great underclassman soccer players,” Christian said. “But they’re all playing in different positions than they normally do because we need everybody to step up.
“Once everyone settles into their positions, we’re going to play some pretty amazing soccer.”
The Cavs’ next game is against Faith Christian on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 4:00 p.m. at Faith Christian in Yuba City.
—By Ming Zhu
