Senior Dustin Polgar chases after the ball in hopes of bringing it into scoring position. Polgar scores once in the game to contribute to the 4-0 win. Offense was lob-sided towards the Matadors as they had most of the possession time. Photo by Rachel Lu.
All teams want a strong start. After a strong preseason, the Matadors surged into the first two games of the season, scoring eleven goals total, and shutting out the other team.The Matadors started the season off with a 2-0 record after their 7-0 rout of Cupertino High School in their first league game. They carried the momentum from their first win into their second league game of the season against Lynbrook to shut them out 4-0 on Jan. 6.Senior Dustin Polgar started out the scoring late in the first half, with freshman Brad Ohadi and senior Aaron Ho to add on quickly after to make the lead 3-0 after the first half. Freshman Marco Schwiebert added one more goal in the second half to seal the win and a strong defense helped third-string and fourth-string goalkeepers junior Brian Nordby and senior Timmy Nguyen to allow no goals.The Matadors did not start off as strongly as they did against CHS, but the first half was dominated by the Matadors. Even though the game remained scoreless for the first thirty minutes, the Matadors had many opportunities near the goal, but were never able to finish. The Vikings were unable to get through the exceptional defense led by senior captain Boson Wang and senior Craig Bowman. Thirty minutes into the first half, Polgar was finally able to get the team on the scoreboard after scoring from a rebound off the goalkeeper.Four minutes after Polgar’s goal, Ohadi was able to quickly add on by scoring on a strong shot that bounced off the right post and then into the goal. Ho continued the surge of offense with another goal, making the score 3-0 by the end of the first half.
“It was a really emphatic goal, probably one of the best I have ever scored,” Ho said. “What happened was it was a corner kick. Clayton crossed it in. It was cleared out, but then sent back out to [Brad] Ohadi and he crossed it back in, hit off a Lynbrook defender and deflected right to me. With plenty of time, took a bounce and just watched it fly off my foot to the upper beam.”
The Matadors continued their dominance into the second half, rarely allowing the Vikings to go deep in their offensive zone and by retaining control of the ball most of the game. The team’s offense continued to play well as they were easily able to continue applying pressure on the Vikings defense.
The only goal in the second half was when junior Bobak Ohadi passed to Schwiebert on the right side of the field to shoot a half volley in the top left corner of the goal.
“This is the true definition of team work on this team,” said head coach Pooya Hajjarian. “You see everybody touching the ball. You see every player on the bench coming in and contributing.”
Nordby was able to make the saves when he needed to throughout the game to shut out the Vikings. Nguyen replaced Nordby late to finish off the game, but never faced a shot.
“We take it one game at a time,” Hajjarian said. “I told my boys when this week started, ‘The first two games we have to get two wins and they have to be commanding wins’. We have to send a message to the rest of the league that we are here and we are strong and that’s what we did.”
The Matadors next home game will be on Jan. 18 against Fremont at 3:30.
Correction at 11:09 PM on Jan. 8: The team that the Matadors would be playing in their next home game was misstated.
