Despite losing against Vistamar in their last match, the boys’ soccer team came back with a 5-1 thrashing of Rolling Hills Prep.

The overall game was quite evenly matched, no one team had significantly more possession than the other; however, it was evident that HMSA had the strongest defense (I’m going to start calling them the Wall of HMSA), since the RHP had few attempts at our goal. If any shot did happen to get passed the Wall, it was stopped by Ndubuisi A. One tactic that was clearly dominant in the game was “making triangles and creating short passes”. This one small tactic was able to break the defense of RHP by making them constantly try to follow the ball from one person to the next as the ball was being moved forward. In some instances ankles were broken (not literally) and defenders were falling to the ground trying their best to get the ball. These passes were also the key to many of the goals that were scored by the boys.

However, in the second half, the game was a little more intense, RHP woke up. They became more aggressive and attacked more often, but their efforts were still in vain. They did manage to get a goal however, but it was through a penalty. This call left many members of the team flabbergasted because the referees tend to not give penalties because it usually ends with them being scrutinized by the opposing team. Sadly, that one goal by RHP could not save them and the final score of the game was 5-1.

Coach Launius was impressed with the team’s performance, but he did state that “they started slow and it took them a while to get into the flow of the game.” This is pretty understandable considering both teams seemed to be pretty evenly matched. But, as the game progressed, it was becoming more evident that the boys were going to get away with the win.

Bryan R. was the man of the match, scoring three goals and getting a few assists in as well. Overall, Bryan was impressed with the team’s performance stating that because of this win, “they got confidence for next game (against CAMS)”. After the game against CAMS, the boys go on to face off against Lennox. When asked about Lennox, this is what Bryan had to say: “Lennox is a tough team, one of the best in the League, and we have to keep the momentum going and practice hard if we are to succeed”.