After a clean 5-1 victory against the MacDonald Condors on Jan. 16, the Falcons hold a 6-4-2 overall record as they head towards the halfway point of their season. The Falcons’ 3-1-1 El Camino League record matches Monta Vista, but their head-to-head advantage — earned through a 3-0 home win on Jan. 9 against the Matadors — solidifies their first place standing. The Falcons started off strong on Jan. 16, with senior captain and striker Finn Smith advancing to goal in the 11th minute before being tackled by the Condor’s keeper, who received a yellow card for the action. Smith was awarded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box and, despite having the initial shot blocked, he clinically finished the rebound to put the Falcons up 1-0.
The Falcons kept up offensive pressure for the next 15 minutes, with junior winger Akash Gupta scoring a penalty after an opponent handballed in the penalty box. Placing the ball neatly into the top left corner, he put the Falcons in the lead 2-0. Two minutes later, senior winger Langdon Huynh used a stepover to open up space, pass and assist Smith, who scored his second goal of the game.
The Falcons were able to finish out the last 20 minutes of first half with no major counterattacks and a comfortable lead of 3-0. Standout players included senior right center back Joshua Bang and sophomore left center back Jack Yang, as their solid defense yielded a shut-out.
“It feels great to be able to be a key player on a varsity team as a sophomore,” Yang said. “I think that good defense is always a team effort, and my center back partner, Josh, is always helpful with covering me and looking out for me if I need help.”
As the Falcons carried their momentum into the second half, they focused their energy into their offensive plays to extend the lead. Huynh’s technical skills and precise dribbling created several chances to advance up the field, but he was unable to bury the ball into the bottom right corner of the net until 27 minutes into the half, when he received a cross from sophomore winger Vedant Sinha.
“Honestly, it was about time that I scored my first league goal. I’ve already had a lot of chances that I [wasn’t able to] convert,” Huynh said. “I’m good at creating chances for the team so it felt pretty good for me to score my first league goal to help my team get the win.”
After Huynh’s finish, Sinha won a free kick after a push in the back just outside the Condors’ penalty box, where senior captain and midfielder Itamar Shoshani stepped up to take it. He made a short pass to junior captain and midfielder Vihaan Bhaduri, who quickly played the ball toward the edge of the 6-yard box for Bang to shoot and score, marking the Falcons’ final goal of the game.
The Condors, however, were persistent for a goal, and were able to get one back with a dribble and chip over the keeper in the 77th minute. The game ended 5-1, giving the Falcons the possibility of qualifying for CCS for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
Sophomore Benjamin Bolger, who pulled off a strong performance in midfield and defense, is excited to see what the team’s future holds: “We’re in a great spot and we can win CCS. No matter what, the most important thing for us to do is keep winning in order to have a lot of success [for] the rest of this season,” Bolger said.
