Varsity Boys Soccer defeated Evergreen High School 5-1 on Wednesday, Dec. 11 in its last game before leagues. The game started slow, with both teams struggling to score due to the constant back and forth of fighting for possession of the ball. However, the game picked up during the second half after the Matadors scored their first goal. Senior and center defensive mid Dylan Chaahoub, who scored two goals in the game and was nominated Player of the Game by MaxPreps, believes that this first goal was pivotal to gaining momentum as a team.
“We were getting opportunity after opportunity in the first half but we just weren’t converting,” Chaahoub said. “But after we got that goal, it 100% gave us the confidence to go up and score, and we got four goals after that.”
Chaahoub attributes the success to impromptu improvements the team was able to implement throughout the game as well as EVHS’ diminishing energy levels. In order to prepare for their upcoming league games, he mentions that, as the game progressed, they found the opposing team’s strengths and weaknesses which served as a valuable guide for future practice sessions.
“I could see their energy was super low, so we kind of just pounced on that,” Chaahoub said. “That turned into intensity at the top and we started pressing them a lot, [converting] those opportunities into goals. It was a great effort from the team. However, our passing through the back could have gone better. So we need to work on that in practice and hopefully, when it comes to league time, we can lock in.”
Junior and striker Royce Tse agrees with Chaahoub that the team’s increased motivation resulting from the first goal played a crucial role in fueling its ultimate success. Additionally, Tse says he was personally motivated to keep his team’s spirits high and felt grateful knowing the goals he scored helped his entire team progress.
“When you can score [a goal] for your team, knowing that you can pull your team forward — it’s not just for me,” Tse said. “It isn’t my highlight reel, but as a team, I can motivate and help bring up the mentality and bring up the mood and ambiance of the game. It just helped us progress and fight even harder to win.”
While Tse was proud of the comeback in the second half, he also said the intensity of the game dipped after halftime when MVHS scored its first three goals in the next half an hour. He credits the goal the opposing team scored as a result of this overconfidence. However, after EVHS scored, the Matadors snapped back into focus according to Tse and scored one final goal in the last five minutes, closing the game at 5-1.
Even though Tse says this game wasn’t as challenging for his team, with a season record of 2-2-1, he still takes this as an opportunity to improve.
“Every game we play is a stepping stone to help us get better as we progress through the season,” Tse said.
