The team was feeling confident as Homestead High School’s boys soccer team approached the field. Each player was more than ready to start off the season strong on Jan. 6. The athletes had powerful possession of the ball and executed strong plays. The energy and excitement for the first game of the season resulted in a strong 15 minutes for the Matadors, but team coordination and morale was quickly lost when HHS scored a goal thirty minutes into the game.

“No energy, no play — when we have no energy we can’t connect in the middle,” senior Chatty Adiga said. “Connecting to the middle is the key to success in any soccer game and I feel we weren’t able to do that.”

To connect in the middle meant scoring a goal, and as HHS maintained possession, the energy levels dropped rapidly. Out of the 22 players on the team, eight crucial Matadors were injured. Missing the best players on the team started to create pressure among the ones on the field. Though HHS’s offense began to overwhelm the athletes, goalie senior Anirudh Srinivas kept the Matadors in the match by making eight saves during the game.

“It felt broken. They’re not as good as we made them seem,” Head Coach Lowney mentioned in a team huddle.

Although the goalie contributed greatly to achieving a less defeating loss to HHS, the team still has a lot to work on for their next game against Palo Alto High School. As tough teams are approaching quickly, by reducing the risk of injuries and increasing the numbers of Matadors playing on the field, they hope to improve their team coordination and build their stamina.

Player Profile: Goalie Anirudh Srinivas

After making 8 crucial saves to the scattered and unorganized play by the Matadors, Srinivas kept up with HHS’s offense.

“Without our goalie playing as well as he did today we probably wouldn’t have been in the match,” Head Coach Lowney said.

El Estoque: What were your thoughts going into the game?

Srinivas: The first 15 minutes we were playing really strong and I thought it was going to go our way for sure. We possessed the ball and had a lot of shots on the goal.

EE: As goalie, how did you feel about your performance today?

Srinivas: Last year I let one [shot] through my hands and it was really disappointing for me. I knew this game would be important for me to make up for since last year I was mainly the reason we didn’t go to CCS.

EE: What would you like to see to see the team improve on for the next game?

Srinivas: We are really injury-prone and have so many people that are out. Injuries are one thing that always bring us down and is something we all need to work on. I am sure that if we had our full squad today we would have won the game.

The team’s next home game with be against Palo Alto High School on Jan. 13 at 3:30 pm.