On Tuesday, Jan. 21st, the boys’ varsity soccer team faced off against their Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) rivals, the Marin Catholic Wildcats. In an intense yet anticlimactic game, the Giants tied the Wildcats 1-1. The Giants, with an MCAL record of 1-1-2, now sit in sixth place. Overall, the Giants have a record of 3-2-4 and are looking to bounce back after today’s tie.
The first half of the game was a defensive masterclass from both sides of the field. With efforts from freshman goalkeeper Cade Jaffee, senior defenders John Anderluh and Finn Nelson, as well as junior defender James Mostafavi, the Giants managed to keep the Wildcats scoreless for the entire first half. Sophomore Oren Weingarten says that what kept the Giants in the game was the team’s determination.
“All across the lineup, on all sides of the ball, all of the players whether it be in the midfield, offense or defense put their absolute best effort in,” Weingarten said.
By the end of the first half of play, the score remained 0-0 as neither team gave in to offensive pressures. However, in the opening of the second half, the Wildcats jumped out to a quick lead after a goal from senior Enrique Guzman within the first two minutes of play.
The Wildcats maintained their lead until senior and team captain Sam Gersch tied the game with just 13 minutes remaining. He says that the team fought hard today and although he scored the Giants’ only goal, the team’s effort was why the Giants kept things close in the late stages of the game.
“We didn’t get the ending result we wanted, and we haven’t recently, but I think in this game compared to others we focused on what we can do well and our strengths. Everyone is working their butts off and we’re starting to piece things together,” Gersch said.
The Giants came close to making a comeback after several narrowly missed shots from the offense. Within the final minutes of play, it seemed that the Giants were nearing victory, but their efforts were to no avail.
“The team came out, showed energy, effort, grit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to win, we just fell short at the end and didn’t get the outcome we wanted,” Weingarten said.
Gersch believed that the team appeared much stronger in the second half and showed true character and a playstyle the team desires for games to come.
“It was a collective effort, there were times [in the first half] where we got lazy, at half we talked about what we wanted to focus on to do better, individually and as a team and we tried our best to make it happen,” Gersch said.
Although ending in a tie, the Giants’ second half efforts brought hope to the team for the future. The Giants looked sharper offensively than in the previous half, and after the Wildcats scored their goal, the Giants’ defense kept the Wildcats out of their side of the field for the remainder of the game.
“We had a lot of players succeed, everyone was putting in their best effort, it just wasn’t enough to break the tie,” Weingarten said.
Although resulting in an unsatisfying finish, the Giants’ play has improved and they are looking to bounce back this Thursday against Novato High School. The Giants face off against the Hornets at 3:15 in Novato.