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McLaughlin saves the day in
season opener. 11/26
It doesn't matter how many
players the Warriors are missing, these games count. At the end of
the season, when CCS points are tallied, there is a great chance that
this game will stand out. The Warriors have one man to thank for the 0-0
result, Brad McLaughlin.
Though the Warriors looked
to be the stronger team throughout parts of the game, the play was
dominated by Los Gatos. The Wildcats constantly pressured the VC
goal, only to be turned away by a jumping, diving, punching 'keeper.
"While I was warming Brad
up this morning, I told him that we're likely going to need a shutout
today. He told me he would try, and he did it. Today this is
a boring 0-0 tie, but at the end of the season, this could be the
difference of a CCS team...or not" Coach Basanese stated after the game.
McLaughlin is in his second
season for the Warriors' varsity side. A utility player who plays
'keeper while Ben Hansen kicks for the football team, Brad has proven to
be a very valuable player.
Several players saw their
first varsity action including Tyler Seaman,
John Walitsch,
Keegan Garrison, Jordan Pereira, and
Christian de Leon...most of them played
the entire game.
Christian nearly gave the
Warriors the lead at the end of the first half. After a great
hustle play found him alone with the 'keeper, the young striker's shot
went just above the crossbar.
The Warriors' defense
played quite well, doing whatever it could to keep the LG forwards at
bay. Strong play by Tyler Seaman, and Ross Mark
anchored a backline that was missing two of it's starters.
At the end of the day,
though, it was the VC 'keeper McLaughlin stopping 3 point blank shots in
extra time that kept the game level.
On the final play of the
game, a Los Gatos player dribbled straight towards the goal and got a
free shot on net. An onrushing McLaughlin went down and narrowly
deflected the shot wide. Moments after the save, the final whistle
blew.
Overall, a very poor
performance from a VC team that only had 15 players show up to play.
The team will look to rebound this coming Thursday when it takes on
Homestead at home.
vcsoccer.com man of the match: Brad McLaughlin (clean sheet)
|
Valley Christian |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Los
Gatos |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Scoring summary:
None
VC Starting Lineup: McLaughlin, Seaman,
Mark, Nettemeyer,
Pereira, Field, Walitsch, Osuna, Keeling, Goldsmith, de Leon
Weather: Perfectly sunny but cold, 55
degrees. |
