By Theo Vuong, Staff Writer
The undefeated Barons boys’ soccer team faced off against the undefeated Newport Harbor High School at home. Despite numerous opportunities and a strong defense, they succumbed to the play of the Sailors, who did not create very many openings themselves.
Within the first minute of the game, Newport struck first and gained possession of the ball and scored, bringing the score to 0-1.
Even with key players missing, the Barons’ defense managed to restrict the movement of Newport’s strikers and maintained the control they had in the first half. Goalkeeper senior Bryce Nichols and senior Daniel Garcia thwarted the Sailors’ plans numerous times, creating openings for the rest of the team.
Unfortunately, the offensive players were not clinical in their play this time around, as they missed numerous shots and a penalty kick. Time and time again the ball was brought into Sailor territory, but to no avail. The first half ended with a back-and-forth game between both teams and ended with a score of 0-1 favoring Newport.
The second half opened up with the same explosive action as in the first half, with Newport capitalizing on their early possession and scoring once more, granting them a 0-2 lead. The rest of the game played out in a similar fashion to the first half, with both teams came extremely close to scoring but not finding any reward for their actions.
“I don’t think we took a step back today other than losing the game. I think during the game, we had more than enough chances. We just didn’t finish. (Newport) didn’t create a whole lot (of opportunities) other than one early in the first half and kind of the same thing in the second half. We created a whole lot of chances in the game, we just didn’t finish them. If you can’t finish, you can’t win.” said Coach Jason Smith.
