Spectators braved the first substantial rain of the season at Ventura College to watch the first-ever boys’ soccer game this Tuesday. The Dragons were defeated 0-5 by the Adolfo Camarillo High School Scorpions.

Foothill kicked off the game and made an attempt to score a minute into the game. Goalie and junior Caesar Camacho blocked two shots by Camarillo with 33 minutes and 29 seconds on the clock of the first half.

Camarillo scored with just under 33 minutes remaining in the half, giving them a lead which Foothill was unable to close for the duration of the game. By the end of the half, the score was 0-3 in Camarillo’s favor, though Camacho had six saves in the half, including one from a penalty kick.

Camarillo scored twice more in the second half, bringing the score to 0-5, Camarillo’s favor at the end of the game.

Freshman and field player Mateo Carrillo was discouraged by the loss, though he maintains some optimism for the upcoming season.

“Honestly, it went pretty bad. I didn’t enjoy it much. I just hope it goes better next time,” said Carrillo. “It wasn’t too good today, but there’s always room for improvement.”

Assistant Coach Rick Villano realizes the growth the team must go through but finds enthusiasm in watching the players improve.

“We have a long way to go. We have a good group of boys and we know what we need to work on now,” said Villano.

“We didn’t have some of our best players because of the sit-out period but the boys played hard and they know what they need to work on so [I’m] looking forward to seeing these guys continue to improve.”

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The boys’ soccer team is still missing players because of the 30-day CIF sit-out period. Senior and field player Justin Redemann believes that the return of those players affected by the sit-out period will help the team improve.

“It would help to have all of our players who are ineligible back,” said Redemann. “Once we get those players back, I see no problem with us doing really well in the league, and farther, possibly.”

Head Coach Andreas Wedderein concurs with Redemann, and believes that “more practice” will also help the team improve.

Though he believes the team could have played better, Redemann believes the experience is a necessity for the team to succeed both in Thursday’s upcoming game and over the course of the season.

“The important thing is that we got the first game under our belts, so we’ll use this as a building experience to work for the next game. The next game is difficult, but we’ll try our best,” said Redemann. “It might be a slaughter, but […] we’ll do the same thing we did; we’ll work hard as a team.”

Although the team faced defeat, Villano commends the players’ willingness to push hard and not give in as a team.

“They kept their heads up, that’s for sure, they didn’t give up and that’s what I think they did very well,” said Villano. “Go on Dragons.”

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Background Photo: Josh Ren/The Foothill Dragon Press