After a disappointing loss to Marina, the Barons had a lot to prove this week. The boys varsity soccer team played a very strong third week of the Sunset League with victories over Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor.
The Barons played a pivotal game against Los Alamitos Wednesday. The Griffins were tied for first and the Barons found themselves alone in 3rd trailing by one win. The Barons overtook the Griffins in the Sunset league and won 3-0.
Coach Jason Smith commented on the match-up before the game “We always match well against Los Al, their coach knows it too.”
Smith’s words rang true as the Barons pulled a decisive 3-0 victory over a tough Los Al opponent. The Barons started off the game in a mostly defensive posture. Los Al tested the Baron defense with its quick and skillful attack early on in the game, but the boys held strong through a few dangerous moments.
Halfway through the first half Eric Shearer (’12) scored off a thrown in from Kenji Louer (’13). The goal gave the Barons a huge load of confidence and they started to take the upper hand of possession the rest of the half.
Some defensive adjustments at the start of the second half put leading goal scorer Ethan Morrow on defense for the rest of the game. The tactical move played out well, and the Baron defense continued to shut out the Griffins for the entire game.
The two goals in the second half for the Barons were both scored by Joseph Solimon (’13) off very similar plays. In the 50’ and later in the 70’ minute Solimon picked the Griffin right back of the ball and dribbled in from the side of the box all alone to score. The goals put the Barons well ahead and allowed the boys to cruise to a comfortable 3-0 victory. Hard work out of the back and hard work up top won the game for the Barons.
“It’s not how you start this league, its how you finish” commented Smith on the first half of the season in which the Barons went 4-1-0 and held first place for a majority of the time.
The boys will be happy with the first half of season, but there is still a long road ahead; beginning with an important match-up with Newport Harbor that came on Friday.
On Friday, the Barons played a different looking Sailor team which had returned a star player who had not played in the previous two games between the two sides. The Barons struggled a bit in the first half against the Sailors. Possession was mostly dominated by Newport and the Barons were losing battles all over the field. The Barons were also missing play-maker Isaac Garcia (’15) and the offense had trouble moving the ball between them early on. The first half saw some chances for both sides but both teams were kept quiet and the game continued on tied at zeroes.
In the second half the Barons came out much stronger and were rejuvenated. The midfield was dominated by Garret Stiffler-Greasby (’13) and the Baron defense shut down the Newport attack for the early portion of the second half. The Baron offense came alive and created some chances but to no success. The long throw in of Aran Reeve (’12) was a continuous threat for the Barons and created chaos in the Newport box on many occasions.
Toward the end of the scoreless half both teams became desperate for a game winner and traded chances. The Sailors got behind the Baron defense later in the half and were pushed just wide enough on the angle by a diving Ryan Brown (’13) to miss wide. The Barons saw their own chances including one in the final minute of the game that was skied over the goal from just outside the six yard box. And so the game went into over time.
The first bout of extra time was even matched and the ball sea-sawed back and fourth between the teams. The two teams did not see much in the way of scoring chances.
In the second over time, the Barons put up a little more offensive pressure, most of it coming from long throws and ensuing corners. On one of those long-throws mid way through the frame the Barons battled inside the Sailor box and Solimon found the ball and brought it to the touchline on the side of the goal and passed it across the goal mouth to a wide open Wade Sias (’12) who easily tapped in his 5th of the year for the game winner. The Barons were electric after the goal and held the Sailors water-tight to win the game in double OT 1-0.
News would come later in the day that Marina lost to 0-5 Huntington Beach, which placed the Barons back atop the Sunset League poised for a possible Sunset League Championship. The Barons have destiny in their hands and can place first in league with a spotless record in the second half of season. But as coach Smith drills into his players heads, “There is no easy game in the Sunset League” the boys have a lot on their plate in the upcoming weeks. Fortunately the Barons get the addition of Oscar Garcia (’13) to the team in the new semester, he will add a much appreciated spark and depth to the offense.
Here we go Barons!!