Girls Soccer loses to Branham High School 1-0 in its first home game
Matadors attribute defeat to communication and incomplete passes
Senior Diya Balakrishnan dribbles the ball around a BHS defender during the second half to advance up the field. Photo by Kalyani Puthenpurayil
November 25, 2022
Varsity Girls Soccer fell 1-0 to Branham High School during its first home game on Tuesday, Nov. 22. While the score remained at 0-0 in the first half, BHS was able to score within the first few minutes of the second half.
Junior and captain Niku Sedarat believes the team was strong in both communication and defense and ensured that BHS didn’t have an easy time getting to the goal. However, Sedarat says MVHS had a breakdown in communication going into the second half which allowed BHS to score after they had quickly intercepted the ball.
“We definitely need to work on completing our passes,” Sedarat said. “We defend really well but we can’t really get up because we’re not able to pass around the players [because] the ball keeps getting intercepted.”
Junior Iniyaa Suresh agrees that there is room for improvement, specifically in passing and communicating. Suresh adds that several players who play a crucial role in the team were not able to participate in this game since they were competing in the Surf Cup, a tournament held in San Diego, as part of their ongoing club season from Nov. 25-27.
Going into the game, Sedarat was unsure about what to expect because MVHS had lost to BHS 5-1 last season, but the team was able to keep the game at 1-0, which Sedarat says is a big improvement. Both Suresh and Sedarat believe that the team will be able to play well in upcoming matches.
“It was a relatively good start of the season,” Suresh said. “I think we will definitely be better in the future, considering some of our players were out.”
