On Feb. 11, the  MVHS boys soccer team played their second to last home game against Saratoga HS. Although the Matadors started off with a lack of coordination, the team soon pulled together, with senior Takeshi Ueno scoring within the first few minutes. The team started connecting passes, the Matadors offense became more dangerous and junior Itay Rabinovich scored off a corner kick. Right before halftime, however, SHS scored off a tap-in, leaving the score at 2-1 at the end of the half.

At the start of the second half, shouts from SHS’ bench rang across the field as its players struggled to make goals due to quick interceptions from the Matadors. However, one ball from SHS finally broke through and found the goal when all MVHS players, including goalie junior Hassham Malik, found themselves unable to return to their own side to defend the goal. Less than a minute after the score was brought to a tie, SHS swiftly scored another, pulling the score to 3-2 in SHS favor. Panicked, MVHS players rushed to score goals and take back the game, only to create more disorder and fail to score. The game ended in a 2-3 loss for the Matadors.

Click through the photo gallery to see pictures from the game.

Photos by Karen Ma and Sannidhi Menon.