Gearing up for the tournament season, Kennedy’s boy’s soccer team went against San Fernando on the 31st of January at San Fernando High School. Although this was a tough game, the varsity team lost against San Fernando.
Miguelangelo Villanueva, Kennedy’s boy varsity captain, feels as though varsity didn’t do their very best. “We have had way better games but we were also missing our main defender whose job is supposed to hold everything together,” he said.
Even though they were missing a teammate, Villanueva said he still had faith in the defense considering how good they can be when they really try. “The energy was down, and no one really seemed locked in or ready for the game,” he stated.
On the topic of what went well for the game, Villanueva discloses that the only thing that went well was their middle and attacking players. He continues on by explaining that “They were doing the best they could, but even then they couldn’t put any shots on frame so therefore we couldn’t score.”
However, he also points out what he believes went bad about the game. “Our defense was bad, and we had few starters trying to take the team by themselves and be selfish with the ball.” Villanueva continues on by saying this didn’t work in their favor and brought the team down due to the fact they work better as a team.
Every soccer team, or teams in general will have their ups and downs. Villanueva believes that there could be many improvements such as working on ball control and spacing. He adds, “especially when to release the ball or pass it to another teammate.”
As the boys soccer team works up to tournaments, which are supposed to be happening late February, captain Villanueva believes that the team won’t make it very far if they continue to play like they did against San Fernando.
Nevertheless, he believes varsity is ready. “We just need to bring the same energy we had when beating Sylmar this season and we also need to have more confidence and faith within ourselves no matter what player is out,” Villanueva claimed.
He thinks that based on the game against San Fernando self-disbalance and mentality needs to be fixed. “We shouldn’t have lost and even if we did it should’ve never been that bad, ” Villanueva pointed out. He feels that all they can do now is train and hope that the next time they go against San Fernando, players are healthy and ready.
Jesus Anival, one of Kennedy’s boy soccer coaches, believes as well that they could’ve done better. “I think we didn’t show up and make big plays in big moments, however, the free kick ten minutes before halftime really worked in our favor, ” he expressed.
As for what Anival thinks went well, “I had some upperclassmen step up and play well for us, which gives me hope for our near future.”
However, he believes that what went bad during the San Fernando game was they had a lot of players out due to injury or sickness and even had two more get injured during the game.
Anival also believes that varsity could improve. “If we show we are resilient, mentally tough and can come back from a tough loss, then that is how I know we improved, ” he states.
Based on the game against San Fernando, Anival thinks that varsity will have a chance during tournament season. He points out how, “As long as we get home games we have hopes during tournaments.” Kennedys boy soccer team still have faith of beating San Fernando as they plan them again during tournaments.