Boys Soccer beats Redondo 1-0

IMG_1390_preview — (Blue) Goalie Andrew Fasano attempts to block the soccer ball. The Mira Costa boys soccer team defeated Redondo, 1-0, on Feb 7.

Josie Collier

Staff Writer

The Mustangs defeated the Seahawks 1-0, in a nail-biting home game that resulted in a Bay League Title for Costa.

The Mustangs redeemed themselves with a 1-0, victory on Feb. 7 against Redondo after their upset earlier in the season. The top performers of the match included senior goalkeeper Andrew Fasano with a shutout and senior forward Robert Cook with a goal.

“My favorite thing about playing for the program is being surrounded by all my friends and just to enjoy playing the game everyday,” senior, captain and midfielder Keyan Torabi said.

In the first half, Cook ran down the field and was fouled by a redondo defender inside the box. Cook lined up for the shot and scored putting the Mustangs in a 1-0 lead but in a risky position for Redondo to come back.

“Robert Cook is just so fast and so quick with the ball,” Smith said. “He just dribbles around players and he gets fouled often so when he was fouled in the penalty box and was awarded the penalty kick and scored, he gave us the lead.”

Once the second half began, Costa’s defense remained impenetrable and kept a clean sheet. All corner kicks and set pieces were stopped by Fasano and his defense making it even more difficult for Redondo to score.

“The rest of the game was just a battle,” Smith said. “We played great defense and we actually moved Robert Cook to the back to help out on defense so he got player of the game for that.”

For the final minutes of the game, Redondo became frustrated and physical and put four players on Costa’s defensive line hoping to slip in a goal for the tie according to Smith. The Mustangs were able to hold off the Seahawks for the remaining minutes of the game and finished the game 1-0 Costa.

“Our defense played great because the other team pressing forward hard and we just had to mark these guys because they were fast, tough and we just had to handle them,” Smith said.

The Mustangs finished 15-4-2 overall and 8-2 in Bay League. The Mustangs will next play in the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs on Friday, Feb. 16 at home.

“We feel good going into CIF but we have a couple more guys and key defenders that have been out and have to get healthy,” Smith said. “We feel confident that when we play our best we can beat anybody.”