The boys’ junior varsity soccer team took great strides in defeating  Terra Linda High School 3-1 in their game last Saturday, Dec. 16 at Redwood. The game started out intense, with heavy winds creating a bit of a challenge for the team to adjust to, according to sophomore and left forward Shawn Clark.

“The wind didn’t really affect that much we were just not used to it. First half we struggled a bit but second half we got used to it and that’s when we started scoring,” Clark said.

Within the first ten minutes of the game, junior forward Cian Gallagher had the crowd cheering as he raced down the field and scored a goal.

Terra Linda retaliated by scoring a goal, bringing the score to a 1-1 tie midway through the first half. Redwood’s defense was lacking speed and effort by staying in place and not communicating, according to Clark. “There were a few areas during the game where our team could have communicated better to prevent that. We can definitely improve by talking more to one another,” Clark said.

With half an hour left in the game, Clark sent the ball into the field on a free kick. The ball headed straight for the goal and the Terra Linda defense unsuccessfully attempted to deflect the ball. The ball surged into the net putting Redwood in the lead with a score of 2-1.

Sophomore forward Erix Weitzman believes there is a combination of reasons why the kick was successful.

“Shawn’s free kick was luck, wind and skill. Although he got lucky and the ball curved away from the keeper into the goal from the wind, he had enough skill to place it there from 30 yards out,” Weitzman said.

As the second half progressed, Redwood dominated the field, deflecting all goal attempts by Terra Linda. The game finished strong leaving Redwood with a win of 3-1 and making them undefeated for 2017 as freshman left back

 Freshman José Hernandez scored the final goal of the game.

“One of the highlights of the game was the last goal. José  ran down the sideline with wheels past a few defenders and finished,” Weitzman said.

Although the game was a win, Weitzman feels as though they could have beat Terra Linda by a greater margin than they did.

“The game went well as we got the win, but on the other hand it shouldn’t have been 3-1 against Terra Linda. We should’ve scored more and got a clean sheet,” Weitzman said.

The Giants play their next game at Novato High School on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 3 p.m.