In boys soccer’s last game, junior Radwan Hamwi took two penalty kicks and made both. In their first round CCS game against Evergreen Valley HS on Feb. 25, he did the same thing. Hawmi’s first goal, thirty minutes into the game, put MVHS up 1-0 at halftime. His second penalty kick came an hour and a half later in a seven round shootout. Goalkeeper senior Anirudh Srinivas saved three penalties, pushing EVHS out of CCS and the Matadors into the next round.
After an EVHS goal in the second half and a scoreless 20 minutes of extra time, the Matadors won 5-4 on penalties.
Boys soccer has defeated Evergreen Valley after 5-4 shootouts. They will go on to play undefeated Watsonville HS on Saturday in CCS round 2.
— El Estoque Sports (@ElEstoqueSports) February 26, 2015
Half an hour into the game, Hamwi took a penalty kick and converted it into the top right corner for his and MVHS’ fourth goal in two games. EVHS responded in the second half with a goal of their own, and neither team scored again in the remaining twenty minutes. An additional twenty minutes of extra time was added to the clock, but the scoreboard remained stagnant to the final whistle. 1-1.
MVHS and EVHS would take five rounds of penalty kicks. Players lined up on the turf as goalies stretched behind the net. Students and parents ran from the bleachers and onto the track to watch more closely before they were instructed to stand behind the fence. MVHS missed their first kick, but Srinivas saved EVHS’, leaving the score at 1-1 once more. Sophomore Nikash Narula, junior Anjan Amarnath and Hamwi scored the following three shots, while EVHS missed their third attempt. The Matadors were up one, and if they made the next shot, they would win the game. They missed. The penalty kicks would continue. Sophomore Ori Lavi and EVHS both scored their team’s sixth penalty. Junior Eric Pala took his, and the Matadors led by one as the EVHS player stepped up. If the Cougars made this kick, the already elongated shootout would continue.
Senior Anirudh Srinivas saves the final penalty kick in a seven round shootout against Evergreen Valley High School on Feb. 25, winning the game. The Matadors will advance to the second round of CCS on Feb. 28, when they play the second seeded Watsonville High School. Video by Amol Pande
“When I saved the last one, I didn’t even know what was going on,” Srinivas said. “I saw everybody running. I got dogpiled. It was by far the single greatest moment of my soccer career.”
Srinivas’ final save meant that the Matadors had won the shootout and the game. Players screamed as they broke up their organized line to race down the field and hug Srinivas. The team returned to the bench to pass out chocolate and donuts as they talked about their next game.
The team agreed that though penalty kicks are always stressful, they felt prepared to take them.
“We’ve been practicing them for weeks,” Amarnath said.
Photos by Amol Pande and Christine Liang
Srinivas explained that he and his fellow goalkeepers, sophomore Sassan Hashemi and juniors Thomas Lenihan and Atharva Rohatgi, were even more prepared, because they practice saving penalty kicks nearly every day for their warm ups.
“At this point, we’ve practiced so many that it comes naturally to us,” Srinivas said. “It was still pretty scary, obviously, going down to PKs in the last minute. The guy always tries to look the opposite way, but you look at his feet, and I can tell.”
After a ninety minute game, twenty minutes of extra time and seven rounds of penalty kicks, MVHS won the first CCS game they’ve played in seventeen years and will head to the quarterfinals on Feb. 28.
After cleaning up, players pulled out their phones, ready to post on Facebook and Instagram about their victory, excited to finally update their #CCSBound prophecy to #CCSQuarterfinals.
Boys soccer will play the CCS quarterfinals against Watsonville High School at WHS on Sat. Feb. 28 at 4:00 p.m.
