As the sun set behind a beautiful Mt. Tam view and light beamed across Redwood’s Bob Troppmann field, the Redwood boys’ varsity soccer team (7-3-4) ended their recent game in a tie with a final score of 1-1 against a strong opposing Terra Linda Trojans team (7-2-5).

Stepping into this game, Giants’ head coach, David Siracusa, along with his fellow players knew how influential this game would be.

“TL is always important, they give us a hard time. TL is in second place and we’re in fourth place. With only four teams going to the playoffs this game was very significant,” Siracusa said.

The pressure set in early, when sophomore Tyler Bell scored, placing Terra Linda up to a 1-0 lead with 20 minutes left in the first half.

The Trojans and Giants would battle back and forth for the rest of the half, with multiple shots on goal for each team. However, neither were able to capitalize and it was clear that the second half would be critical.

Entering the second half, the Trojans led 1-0, firing up the Giants to change the course of the game. As both teams gathered for halftime, coach Siracusa, senior goalkeeper Harri Hetrick and junior Stanley Gaither inspired their teammates with motivating halftime speeches.

This rally would prove to work, with junior Hayden Fargo heading in a missed free kick that bounced off the crossbar from senior Cole Hardister with 30 minutes left in the second half, tying the game at 1-1.

“We played well, at least offensively. This was definitely one of the better games we’ve played. First half was a little flat but we came out strong in the second. We lost our last two games, we haven’t scored in three games so that goal was crucial to leading us into the rest of the season,” Gaither said.

Redwood would control the remainder of the half, securing a large majority of the possession and getting a number of shots off on goal. However, thanks to a strong Terra Linda goalie and failure to strike on opportunities, the game would end in a 1-1 tie.

“We did just about everything right today. We moved the ball really well, we played hard, we defended well, our movement was really good. Honestly I think we got unlucky not to put one or two more away. We hit the crossbar three times, one of them turned out to be a goal. We had good chances and we had probably 70 to 80 percent possession this game. I think it was a good performance and it’s gonna take us into playoffs well,” Hardister said.

The Giants will look to make a push for the playoffs in their next match up where they will take on the San Rafael Bulldogs and celebrate senior day on saturday, Feb. 2 at Redwood.