Varsity Boys Soccer lost to Saratoga High School 2-1 on Thursday, Jan. 30, bringing their season record to 8-4-4. After a goal by SHS just 15 minutes into the first half, SHS had possession of the ball for most of the first half, but MVHS started to gain more control at the start of the second half. Still, MVHS managed to hold SHS off for most of the game, culminating in a fast-paced back-and-forth and a goal for each side in the final three minutes. Junior and goalkeeper Kavya Kumar explains that, having just lost to Cupertino High School on Tuesday and previously losing to SHS 3-0, MVHS hoped to bounce back with this game, making the loss even more difficult.
“Today’s game was really disappointing,” Kumar said. “The first two weeks back from break, I know it’s a bit hard, but I guess we just let our guard down. Of course we wanted to win, but I feel like they wanted to win the most.”
According to senior and wingback Justin Chen, this game was more stressful than usual because SHS scored an early first goal, putting MVHS down by a goal for most of the game. As a result, MVHS spent most of the game chasing down SHS players. However, while MVHS struggled to mount an offense, their defense held strong.
With just three minutes left in the second half, freshman and midfielder Hossein Dastgah scored a goal, bringing the score to 1-1. Though this was a major moment for the team, Kumar and Chen agree that the team’s post-goal celebration caused them to let their guard down, putting them off balance for the crucial final minutes.
“It went by in kind of a blur,” Chen said. “It was like a fever dream — we scored, celebrated and then got scored on. We slipped up in one moment and then they capitalized on it. We never got back in time, but they played it, and then they countered. That pretty much cost us the game.”
Chen hopes that in the future, MVHS can communicate more and set up their defensive line more quickly to prevent lapses like this, especially because SHS scored their second goal less than a minute afterward, allowing them to secure their win. Nevertheless, Chen notes that MVHS was able to improve with this game, implementing an “up-back-through” attack strategy the team had recently practiced. Kumar agrees that although the team fell short of where he wanted, this game was an improvement, especially compared to their previous game against SHS.
“That one, we gave up a bit earlier — this one we fought till the end,” Kumar said. “Though we were down one until the last 10 minutes, we held strong, we were all communicating and we were there for each other today.”
