After winning the league for a second consecutive season, Diamond Bar boys soccer defeated the Laguna Beach Breakers in a wild card CIF match on Feb.13. After a scoreless first half, the Brahmas came out on top winning the game 2-1.
Two days later, the Brahmas’ successful season ended as they fell short 2-1 to the Silverado High School Hawks.
DB started the wild card game controlling the field for the majority of the first half with smart passes and key defensive stops. The Brahmas had many chances to score first, but could not capitalize on them due to great defense from LB. However, the tide of the game was slowly changing as the Breakers were pushing the ball into DB’s side. The Brahmas were then forced to start playing a more defensive style. “We might have been nervous, but we were just not playing our style heading into halftime,” coach Kemp Wells said. The game was scoreless after the first half.
When the second half started, the Brahmas started to play more aggressively. “I wanted our halfbacks to get involved by going after the ball,” Wells commented. DB would soon get on the scoreboard after senior co-captain midfielder Kase Vollebregt scored the first goal. “In the first half, Kase was not himself, but in the second half he was amazing,” Wells stated. A couple of minutes later, the Breakers would come back to tie the game from a controversial foul call which led to a penalty kick.
The Brahmas would not give up as they slowly pushed the ball forward into the Breakers’ territory. DB’s senior co-captain forward Gabe Brown then scored the final goal of the game. Senior forward Will Lee kicked a ball from the corner which sailed over the Breakers’ defenders and left Brown wide open to score. “We were the harder working team and we knew we were the stronger team heading into the game,” Vollebregt stated.
“We were not close to playing our full potential tonight,” senior midfielder Jacob Unger said. The Brahmas were able to score six goals against Ramona and Rowland High school. Although DB won the game, the Brahmas admit to needing some improvement. “We made a lot of mistakes tonight,” Vollebregt commented.
The Brahmas finished the regular season with an overall record of 14-6-2 and were crowned Hacienda League champs for the second consecutive season with a league record of 9-3, defeating Bonita 2-1.
