In the heated last game of the season, the Foothill boys’ soccer team tied with St. Bonaventure High school 1-1. This tie leaves the Dragons in the fourth place spot in their league, making it unclear as to whether or not they will be advancing to CIF finals.

Foothill Head Coach Andreas Wedderein believes that the boys deserve the move forward to finals, despite the game’s final outcome.

“I think the boys playing-wise they’re probably one of the best teams in this league,” he said.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Seraphs pressed the Dragons hard, and maintained control of the game by keeping the action in mid-field. However, the Dragons maintained an aggressive offense and in minute 17:34 of the game, junior and mid-fielder Andres Coronel nearly scored but was blocked by the Seraph’s goalie. Foothill continued to press and the offensive line moved closer towards the Seraph’s goal as the game went on. Sophomore and midfielder Miles Gillespie attempted to score during minute 21:40 with the assistance of freshman and striker Mateo Carrillo.

Even during the last five minutes of the first quarter, the Dragons continued to press and attempt goals, never allowing the number on the clock to affect the way they played. With three minutes and 45 seconds remaining Gillespie scored, prompting a wave of excited cheers from the Dragon supporters in the crowd.

In the second half of the game, Foothill kept control of the mid-field and utilized a strategy of pressing the Seraphs players and working for their goals, relying on short passes to one another and strong communication, as opposed to the Seraphs, who heavily relied on  “long-pass” plays. Although many shots came close to scoring, Foothill failed to make any goals during this half, despite their control of the game.

Foothill Assistant Coach Rick Villano felt that the Seraphs’ goalie was the reason behind Foothill’s lack of scoring in the second half.

“They had a really good goalie on St. Bonnie and we had some shots that would have otherwise made it and he made some great saves,” he said.

With 4:33 left on the clock during the second half, the Seraphs were able to score on a long-pass, tying the game. But the Dragons did not let this goal deter them. Instead, the tired offensive line appeared to be revitalized with determination and pressed the Seraphs’ offense towards their own goal, regaining control of the mid-field and attempting to score twice.

The game went into two five-minute overtime periods because of the tie and despite the intensified efforts by the Dragons, the game ended with a score of 1-1.

Coach Wedderein expressed frustration with the outcome of the game, acknowledging that although the Dragons were a better team in terms of playing, the skill-level of the Seraphs’ goalie coupled with a few attempted goals hitting the goal post weighed heavily in determining the game’s outcome.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t score today, as you could see, we had what, like seven, eight, nine, 10 shots on goal and some of them were on the post, some of them were saved by the other goal keeper,” Wedderein said.

“I think the defense got tired and, unfortunately, their long-pass play finally got into play and they sneaked one past us.”

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Foothill fans and players alike were disappointed with the outcome, expressing that the Dragons had played better and more strategically for a majority of the game.

“They played hard. I was irritated that they let that goal in, in the second half, but I think they did pretty well,” said Foothill senior Amanda Gilchrist.  

Assistant Coach Villano believed the Dragons played better than the Seraphs with their strong offense and a solid defense, but what the game came down to was Bonaventure’s goal in the last five minutes of the game.

“I think we dominated the game, but just things weren’t happening our way unfortunately,” Villano said.  

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Background Photo Credit: Chloey Settles/The Foothill Dragon Press