The Aliso soccer boys opened their season on Jan. 10 against hometown rivals San Clemente High School.
This season’s opener is special compared to the previous years as the two teams are ranked in the top twenty teams nationwide. Previous to the game, San Clemente ranked eighth and Aliso ranked twelfth.
The ending score of the game against San Clemente was 0-2. At the start of kickoff the game was rowdy.
Aliso was the first to score in the game.
Sebastian Ugart-Capel (12) was pulled down in the box by the San Clemente defense, allowing Aliso to get a penalty kick.
Captain Talan Chauncey (12) was put on the spot for the kick and succeeded in scoring the first goal of the game, giving Aliso a lead.
After Aliso’s goal, San Clemente strived hard to equalize the score board. San Clemente was unable to get through Aliso’s backline and the first half ended in 1-0 to Aliso.
Throughout the second half, Aliso was able to maintain the score. Midway through the second half of the game San Clemente scored.
On a free kick, San Clemente was able to break through Aliso’s lines and put in a goal from the borders of the box.
Just a few minutes later, San Clemente scored again on a saved rebound.
Both teams fought to the last seconds to bring up the score, but in the end San Clemente took the 2-1 win.
Chase Seager (11) states, “We played hard and lost in a hard fought battle on a goal in the last five minutes.”
The boys’ second league game took place on Jan. 12 away at San Juan Hills High School.
In the first half of the game against San Juan Hills, sophomore Takudzwa Kajese scored. The team was optimistic that they would keep this up and win the game since they left the first half at a 1-0 leverage.
At the start of the second half, San Juan Hills broke through multiple times and was able to score twice leaving the score 2-1.
The game ended with yet another loss from Aliso.
The third league game that the boys partook in was on Jan. 15 against Mission Viejo High School.
In the first half, Mission scored leaving the score 0-1. Throughout the rest of the half, Aliso fought hard and got close many times to scoring, however, the first half ended 0-1.
Coming into the second half, the boys continued to play hard with winning on their minds. The boys got close to scoring multiple times yet the opposing team’s goalie prevailed.
Neither side scored and the game ended with another loss of 0-1.
Right now the boys are placed fifth in the league and hope to rise in numbers.
Chauncey states, “This season [he] hope[s] to win another league title.”
Seager agrees stating, “I hope that we can win out in the league and finish in a good spot to make CIF.”
