After suffering tough losses against rivals South Hills and Walnut, the boys soccer team quickly learned from their losses, narrowly beating teams they previously struggled against. However, they placed fourth in Hacienda League competition with a 5-5 record, ending their CIF hopes.

In their first loss against Walnut and South Hills, head coach Pete Orosco said that the team had trouble getting and maintaining possession of the ball. Failure to take advantage of key players like seniors Kyle Shiroma, David Vasquez and Damien Mata also led to poor passing and possession. Suffering the absences of junior defender Michael Chang and senior goalie Matthew Lotto, the team’s back line struggled to defend against the other teams’ offense.

“I am not happy with the outcome of the season,” senior captain Jackson Haynes said. “We lost to some teams who were not better than us, which cost us the ticket to CIF.”

With previous losses in mind, the boys changed from a defensive lineup to a more offensive formation and marked dangerous players to pull out a win their second time playing Walnut and South Hills.

“The games we won were because we played our shape, [we were] disciplined, and communicated well as a team,” head coach Pete Orosco said via email. 

Though their season had many ups and downs, the highlight of the season was their win against the league champion team South Hills. In a close 3-2 win against South Hills, the team had a solid defense and multiple goal-scoring opportunities, giving South Hills one of their two losses.

“The way the team fought hard that game to get the win was great to be a part of,” Haynes said. “We ended up winning 3-2 in probably the craziest game of my high school career.”

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