The Eagles drew a stalemate on senior night
The Eagles huddle before the second half. They played Palo Alto High School on senior night in a close game, that ultimately ended in a tie.
The varsity boys soccer team tied with Palo Alto High School on senior night on Friday, February 11, with each team racking one goal.
The first half was marked by aggressive offensive play, with Los Altos High School consistently keeping the ball within scoring range. Both teams ultimately came up empty-handed, leaving the first half scoreless on both sides.
Coming out of halftime, the Eagles continued to keep pressure on Palo Alto, culminating in a header goal by forward junior Zaid Issa.
“I just came off the bench and it’s also senior night, so scoring just felt amazing,” Zaid said. “After [the goal], I’m thinking we can finally win this, we can get our points to go to CCS.”
However, they lost the lead to a tie as Palo Alto was able to put a shot in the net during the last minutes of the game, preventing what would have been a much-needed win to improve in league standings.
“It’s just disappointing. Someone didn’t mark their man and [Palo Alto] just got a lucky break,” Zaid said.
As victory eluded the Eagles by one lucky goal right at the end, the final score was disappointing for the team.
“Normally I would say that would be a fair score, but not really,” Head Coach Roberto Magellan said. “I think we outplayed them.”
Magellan said that senior night can sometimes put pressure on senior players, which can lead to poor performance. However, the team was able to play at a consistent level throughout the game, with substitutions only being made to prevent players from receiving two yellow cards, which would result in ejection from play.
“Not all the seniors have necessarily been starters during the season,” Magellan said. “So I planned to give them as much time as possible, it being senior night. I thought of the subs I would bring in, but they were not necessary.”
In spite of the disappointing tie, Magellan said the team played with a cohesion that had been lacking earlier in the season.
“It’s hard to bring in a bunch of kids with different understandings of the game, and get them to all play together,” Magellan said. “They all grew.”
