After a 3-1 victory against Cupertino on their senior night on Feb. 11, the Falcons have extended their four-game win streak. Even more important, with the victory, the team (7-2-2) secured first place in the lower El Camino division and qualified for CCS for the first time in seven years.
The game kicked off with both teams immediately fighting for an early lead, possession shifting back and forth constantly. By the 10-minute mark, the Falcons pushed deep into Cupertino’s half but were called offsides, awarding the Pioneers a goal kick.
Attempting to build out from the back, the Pioneers’ goalkeeper played a short pass to his left back, who tried to play to pass to his center back. However, a misplaced pass and senior winger Langdon Huynh’s excellent positioning created a golden opportunity. Huynh intercepted the pass from the Pioneers and, in a one-on-one scenario with the goalkeeper, curled the ball into the top corner, putting the Falcons up in the lead 1-0.
Courtesy of Veo
Huynh intercepts a pass from the Pioneers’ left back and scores a goal
Following Huynh’s goal, the Pioneers took possession and pressed forward, firing a powerful shot into the Falcons’ goal. However, junior goalkeeper Orion Tamas King easily deflected it. The Falcons were then able to begin their counterattack, starting with a pinpoint through ball from senior striker Finn Smith which forced the Pioneers’ defender to kick it out of bounds, awarding the Falcons with a throw-in on the right wing near Cupertino’s goal. Off the throw-in, the Pioneers stole the ball, but senior midfielder Itamar Shoshani intercepted their pass and hit a stunning right foot trivela that curved into the net, extending the Falcons’ lead 2-0.
Courtesy of Veo
Shoshani intercepts a pass from the Pioneers to score a beautiful goal
“I honestly didn’t think I’d score a goal this season since I’ve been stuck at defense for most of the time, but scoring on senior night to clinch a spot at CCS was a perfect way to end our last season,” Shoshani said.
Despite Cupertino having taken three shots on goal in the last 20 minutes of the half, the Falcons were able to hold onto their lead without conceding any goals, largely thanks to their strong defense — particularly senior center back Joshua Bang, sophomore center back Jack Yang and sophomore right back Benjamin Bolger.
Bang said, “Yang and Bolger did well defending their best attacker and made sure he didn’t have space to do much with the ball. Jack was also hitting a lot of passes that brought us up the field and allowed us to attack.”
The Falcons immediately started the second half strong, surging into the Pioneers’ 18-yard box in under 30 seconds, yet they were unable to convert the play into a goal as the Pioneers’ goalkeeper blocked the shot.
Soon, the Falcons got their chance to score again just 5 minutes later, after junior midfielder Akash Gupta narrowly passed the ball to senior winger Justin Choi, who lobbed the ball into the 18-yard box and assisted Smith for their final goal of the game.
Courtesy of Sean Li
After a pass from Choi, Smith scores his 1st goal of the game.
The Pioneers capitalized on a corner kick to score their first and only goal, just four minutes before the game was over.
“It feels really special to win on senior night because it’s my last home game and I’ll never get the opportunity to play here again,” Bang said. “Also, a lot of friends and my family came out which made it more memorable as we had all these people supporting us.”
