Brahmas kickoff on the wrong foot in league
BOYS SOCCER After tying for first last year, the team is off to a rough start, going 1-3.
Junior Michael Velasco weaves through Claremont’s defense. DB lost 3-1.
January 26, 2017
The Diamond Bar High School boys soccer team is anxious to excel this season given its history in the Palomares League and its preseason record of 5-4.
The boys started the season with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Glendora. Even though they did win their second game 2-0 against Ayala, it was followed by a 1-0 loss against South Hills and a 3-1 loss against Claremont.
As of now, the team hasn’t made many changes to the routine, schedule or exercises since its current system has been quite successful, tying for first in league last year and finishing second the year before, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for the Brahmas to improve.
“Our offense is not as strong as it has been in the past, so we’ve been trying to come up with new combinations – a lot more up-tempo offense in order to try and force airs on the opponent’s defense,” head coach Kemp Wells said.
Claremont remains the Brahmas’ biggest rivals as the two are always fighting for first in league. Last year, Claremont and DBHS tied for league champions and the year before, Claremont beat out Diamond Bar for first place.
“If we can beat them, we usually feel confident we can beat the other teams because Claremont is right there with us at the top,” Wells said.
Early December, the Brahmas participated in the Tournament of Champions, but did not place. It consisted of schools that were league champions, as every team that was eligible to compete was required to have won first in their league the year prior.
The boys made room for practice over winter break in preparation for their second tournament during the holidays. They competed at Ontario Christian High School and earned the title of consolation champions. The teams were ranked bracket-style, so even though DB lost its first game and were already out of the race for first place, the Brahmas made up for it by winning their next three games.
Seniors Christian Valdez, Ryan Hernandez, and Andrew Ellis lead the team in goals, tied at four. The rest of the points are spread out across the other members as the entire team has been contributing evenly.
Seniors Tommy Ramos and Mario Moreno, the team’s two main goalkeepers, have also been doing their fair share of work with 1035 minutes combined.
“As coaches, we have very few complaints about how hard the players work. We just always have to work on playing smarter and cooperating more as a team,” Wells said.
