The SEMHS Varsity Boys Soccer played La Sierra Academy on Thursday, February 9th at La Sierra Academy in Riverside. The entire game went from one goal to another by the minute. The South El Monte boys played in beast mode the entire time, connecting passes and completing the beautiful crosses. The offensive flurry had the Eagles allowing the score do all the talking.  With the Coach Lalo and Ramon motivating the boys running up and down the field, the game couldn’t have been more in their favor.

The team took every opportunity to run the ball and make it into the goal. All of the boys played their position beautifully and to the best of their ability. With the help of the coach….they were able to execute their plays and ideas without flaw. It was the help of the players and coach…that led the team to victory. Some players that should be highlighted are Salvador Lopez, Brian Rodriguez, Christopher Vasquez, and Abraham Varela.

Salvador made an incredible goal, he completed the run and went for the shot. The boys were so fast that most of the time the ball was up top. Even when the ball went down to defense the Eagle defenders juked, megged, and did whatever they had to in order to push up. Even though the Eagle’s boys soccer team isn’t used to turf, they did a great job keeping control of the ball. Salvador definitely used his head in the game. He made sure to receive as many headers as possible to help push the ball up top. It was thanks to one of these headers that the team was able to receive the ball and make the run. One of their players, Freddy Gonzalez took off and never stopped running. He maintained control when receiving and passing the ball, as did many other players like Brian Rodriguez. 

Brian Rodriguez made sure to keep the ball at his feet until he was ready to pass the ball to an open player. Thanks to him he could get the ball down the field and cross the ball to whoever was open. Or, when having the chance he would be able to go for the shot himself. Brian had the technique and speed to outrun the other team and do what he had to do. When Brian would get the ball down the field if he didn’t have a shot most of the time,  he would have the ball would just rebound off the other team and turn into a corner kick. During these corner kicks it was Chris’ time to shine. 

Chris would place the ball in the position he wanted and then would kick the ball with as much force as possible. Since the ball was being kicked with much force, it was able to ricochet off of one of South El Monte players’ heads. In other words, it gave the Eagles a chance to do a header into the goal. The corner kicks weren’t the only times he was playing his best, but also when he was running down the field. He would dodge and juke people trying to avoid bodying at all times. When bodying occurred, he was able to stabilize himself and keep on running with the ball. If for any reason Chris was unable to make it down field he would pass the ball to Brian Rodriguez or Abraham Varela.

Abraham Varela did an excellent job keeping the ball at his feet and making the crosses. He did go for a shot but unfortunately missed. Lucky for him, he was able to also make great crosses and used his speed to his advantage to make his way through everyone and do his job without fail. He used the skills he has been working on for the amount of time he’s been playing soccer, and the new skills he learned when playing overseas. Abraham said, “I thank my coaches and past experiences for where I am today and can’t wait to go farther.”

Overall the game was truly a great one, even the scoreboard could testify to that. The players played their hearts out and made sure to connect their passes and not lose the ball. Everything that could’ve gone their way did.  In the end the Eagles went up against an uncompetitive team and snagged an easy win with a score of 8-0. Coach Ramon summed up the feeling when he stated, “We didn’t get this far just to get this far. Let’s do what we came to do and take a win home”.