By Amanda Newell
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa boys soccer team entered its third game of the season searching for its first victory of the year. Against Mayfield High School on Dec. 6, the Mustangs did just that by winning the game 1-0 and moving their record to 1-1-1 on the season.
The game began at 3 p.m. at Waller Stadium, and the boys played a much better overall game compared to their first two.
“Today we started off strong, with better passing and possessions,” senior Jess Chamberlain said. “We created a lot more chances to score.”
Costa started off the first half with strong defense from seniors Michael Cassen, Paul Orozco, Max Reyes and Ramsey Zein. Mayfairʼs offense was strong throughout the game, but Costaʼs defense blocked two corner kicks in the first half, setting the tone for the Mustangs.
“Our defense was solid today,” coach Gary Smith said. “We’ve been pretty consistent.”
By the end of the first half, Mira Costaʼs offense was able to keep it on the other team’s side of the field. Junior forward Frank Ralyea then shot and scored, giving the Mustangs the lead.
“Our offense played very well today,” Smith said. “It was a good connection game for us with a lot of passing.”
After the second half began, Costa played more aggressively and put pressure on the opposing defense. Costaʼs defense prevented any shots on goal by trapping Mayfair in its own half of the field, giving Costa a shortened attacking field.
The offense continued to put pressure on Mayfair with numerous shots on goal. Chamberlain broke away from the defense and crossed to senior forward Tomas Kral, who almost scored.
“We need to improve on taking chances and shots on goal when we have them,” junior Henry Codron said. “We played great today, but we still are striving to play better.”
Without senior foward co-captain Bradley Baeuchler, who suffered a concussion in Costa’s first game of the year, which was a loss to Santa Monica High School on Dec. 1, the Costa offense has been struggling.
“We’ve really missed his leadership on the field, and we hope he has a quick and speedy recovery,” Chamberlain said.
The team continues to improve by taking more accurate shots and keeping the ball grounded.
“I think we started off a little slow because everyone’s morale was down after we tied our first game that we should have won,” junior Grant Southwood said.
“But we’re really happy that we got this win today, and we feel like we are going to do very well this season.”
The Mustangs played against St. Francis High School on Thursday at Waller Stadium, but the results of the game were unavailable at the time of press.
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