WCHS boys soccer ties Sierra Academy 2-2
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The WCHS boys soccer team: Aidan Hustead, Colton Doute (the goalkeeper), Eghosa Arasomwan, Amilio Gonzalez, Hudson Hien, Jack Cajigas, Jalen Hinman-Inniss, James Spencer, Joel Edison, Jonah Lagandaon, Kai de Sliva, Matthew Del Pozo, Miguel Montoya, Mycah Cross, Nathan Frick-Hisaw, Tinuka Pallegane, Tyler Laudermilch, Victor Sanchez, Gabriel Hernandez, Zaid Khan, and Brian Flores-Meza (via Elias Lemrini, The Expedition)
October 27, 2023 Elias Lemrini | Staff Writer
On October 12, 2023, at 4:00 P.M., the Boys Soccer Team of Westlake Charter High School played a game against the soccer team of Sierra Academy at Tanzanite Park. After 70 minutes of intense gameplay, the game ended as a 2-2 tie.
In the first five minutes of the game, a foul ball had happened. Sierra Academy now had a free kick, the shooter number ten shot the ball and scored.
The score was now one Sierra Academy to zero Westlake. The rest of the first half was uneventful. Coach Sofia was furious that shots weren’t going in, and the ball was either going off the field or being taken or heavily defended.
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At half-time, the score was still one to zero and the coach was mad. She told the team that they needed to step it up and get serious.
She told the team the plan; they needed to break the line. According to soccercoachweekly.net, line-breaking passes are those that go through a line of the opposing team's formation. For example, a pass that goes between two opposing defenders is known as a line-breaking pass because it breaks through the defensive line. Coach Sofia then made the formation of the team a 4-3-3. that formation, which is portrayed in the image below.
Half time was now over and now Westlake and Sierra had to go back to the field. Before they did, they had to do their signature chant: “One Two Three, Westlake!”
A few minutes after the second half started, Number 15 of Westlake, Jonah, got the ball. Desperate for a change of pace, Jonah shot the ball. The goalkeeper of Sierra didn’t catch the ball! Jonah had scored a goal, meaning that the score was now one Westlake one Sierra. The game continued as usual, but Westlake was getting a better edge and was shooting more goals than before.
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A few minutes later, Miguel got control of the ball. He shot the ball, but the ball went back to Miguel because it hit the pole and bounced back to him. The goalkeeper had thrown himself to the floor meaning the goal was open for shots and since he was on the ground, he couldn’t get up to block any more shots. Miguel and his friends cornered the goal and shot the ball, since the ball was super close to the goal and there was no goalkeeper, it was easily one the easiest scoring shots ever scored by the Westlake team. This means that the score was now two Westlake and one Sierra. But then, something completely shocking happened during the game.
A player on the Westlake team accidentally kicked the ball into a player’s face! He kicked the ball into the face of number 19 of Sierra Academy, who went crashing into the floor. Of course, the Westlake team and the Sierra team helped him out and he was better. Reportedly, that player chipped his tooth. After this happened the game went back to normal, but Sierra desperately needed some scoring shots.
Sierra was then shooting multiple shots that were almost impossible to block, and that meant Westlake could lose! But they didn’t lose because of their goalkeeper, Colton. Colton's ability to block one of the toughest shots was very impressive. Everything was going smoothly because the 4-3-3 formation was working. If all the shots that Sierra shot from now on were missed, then Westlake could have won.
However, number ten of Sierra shot one of the trickiest shots ever seen. There was nothing Colton could have done, the ball went in and the score became a tie. The second half-time was about to end, there were only about 25 minutes on the clock.
It was anybody's game. It could be a tie. That is what ended up happening because nobody scored any more points, which meant the game ended with a tie of two to two.
After the game, I interviewed the coach, Sofia, Colton the goalkeeper, Jonah, and Miguel, the people who have most impacted the way the game was played. When I asked Sofia if there was anything that the team could have done to impact the game more, she said, "I felt that if the first half of the game was more intense, our team could have won."
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I then interviewed the goalkeeper of the Westlake team, Colton. The team was impressed with how many shots they had blocked. When I asked Colton how they felt after the game ended, they said, “I felt pretty good after the game, we had a slow start during the first half of
the game, but the second half of the game was way better and was really good."
I then interviewed number 15 of the Westlake soccer team, Jonah, who was the first person to score a goal. This goal wasn’t any ordinary goal, this was his first goal of the 2023-2024 season. When I asked Jonah how he felt after scoring a goal, he said, “I feel good because when I made the shot, I was doing defense, and the chances of me scoring while I was in defense was low.”
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I then interviewed the second player that scored a goal, Miguel, number 11 of the Westlake team. After the game ended I went to interview him, I asked him how he felt after the game, and he said, “I felt good after my shoot and the game, but I was also stressed and annoyed at the same time because this what the team cared about.”
Top to bottom: Coach Sofia, Colton Doute, and Jonah Lagandaon.
In conclusion, the game was very intense and would have you on the edge of your seat. The Expedition would like to thank all the players of the Westlake soccer team that contributed to this article, especially Coach Sofia, Mr. Evans, Miguel, Jonah, and Colton. Follow The Expedition for more sports news.