On Feb. 16, 2024, the division five California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) semifinals took place at Ventura High School’s (Ventura) Larrabee Stadium. This match pitted the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys’ soccer team against Esperanza High School (Esperanza). With this match, Foothill Tech’s season came to a close as Esperanza prevailed over the Dragons 0-4.

In the first few minutes, Esperanza set the tone for the game. After gaining possession of the ball, they moved down the field and sent the ball into Foothill Tech’s net, establishing an early 0-1 lead.

After this goal, Esperanza did not let up and kept the ball on the Dragon’s side of the field. Despite this, Foothill Tech maintained a strong back line and many saves were made by Foothill Tech’s goalkeeper Adam Al Warhani ‘24 to keep Esperanza at bay.

Esperanza was relentless, however, and after countless attempts on goal, Foothill Tech’s defense was broken once again and their lead increased to 0-2.

On Foothill Tech’s offense, they were unable to find holes in their opponents wall of defense. However, attempts on goal were made by Foothill Tech’s Ricky Salinas ‘24 and Diego Flores Orozco ’24, but were unable to connect with the net, leaving the score 0-2 at halftime.

As the team reconvened and the second half began, the Dragons energy was palpable as they made increased efforts to change the score. Although Foothill Tech’s offense was playing much more aggressively, including attempts from Nico Flores ‘24 and Merric Bayless ‘24, the score remained the same.

Bayless stated, “We let them win balls … we had some silly mistakes … they outplayed us to be honest.”

Esperanza was able to keep control of the ball for a large majority of the time, and though countless saves were made by the defense and Al Warhani, the barrage was continuous. This led to two consecutive scores within minutes of each other, taking the score to 0-4.

However, as the minutes clicked down, the Dragons did not halt their efforts towards goal. With several opportunities on corner kicks along with strong build up from the defense, Foothill Tech’s determination would not be diminished. Heads held high, the whistle was blown, sounding the end of the game and Foothill Tech’s season.

Assistant coach, David Arroyo, spoke on the end of the game and the season, stating, “We didn’t get the result we wanted, but I’m proud of these boys … no one expected us to be here.”

Salinas, who has been a member of the team for all four years, reflected on his time in the program, “Everyone here is part of a family … and playing with this family has honestly been the best years of my life.”

The Foothill Tech boys’ soccer team’s season ended with a record of 6-2-1, placing them third in the Tri-Valley rankings along with making it to the CIF semifinals which is the farthest they’ve been in the past couple of years.