Varsity boys soccer draws King’s Academy 0-0 on senior night
Varsity boys soccer tied King’s Academy in a non-scoring game during their senior night on Wednesday.
In a ceremony before the game, seniors Stanley Chen, Cyrus Ghane, Ryder Hewitt, Mikhil Kiran, Krish Nachnani, Jonas Parra, Jackson Powell and Vinayak Sinha held flowers and posters as they walked with family members. Head coach Seena Sajadieh delivered a speech for each senior honoring their influence and achievements in this past season.
Jackson joined the team in junior year, and he appreciated all the memories he’s made with his teammates in such a short time.
“‘I’m grateful for everything I’ve been able to do for the team, and I’m grateful for all these opportunities to play,” Jackson said. “It’s bittersweet in a way, because I absolutely have loved this team, and knowing that you only have so many games left is humbling.”
The Eagles maintained strong possession of the ball in the first half . Four minutes into the match, Vinayak drove up the field, but a King’s defender forced him out of bounds. Two minutes later, Stanley sent a cross in front of the goal. Forward Vova Shchegrov (11) made clean contact on the header, but the ball bounced off the crossbar. Vova slipped on the follow-up, and the King’s goalie snatched the ball out of the air.
“One thing our team wants to focus on would be our composure,” assistant coach Justin Kim said. “We have the opportunities, but we need an ‘it factor.’ We need to be able to just finish the opportunities we get, like that header. It’s these small things where we build up and get to the last part, but we have to be able to execute to produce the goals.”
Eight minutes into the half, Stanley struck again, outpacing two Knights to get off a shot that was blocked by the goalie. To stop a King’s advance, midfielder Leo Denizen (10) executed a tackle up the right side of the field, passing to midfielder Roger Fradin (10), who played a through ball to Vinayak that King’s intercepted.
With 23:30 left in the half, Stanley again sped ahead of a defender, who fouled Stanley to prevent him from advancing further. Roger sent the free kick into the box, but the ball was slightly too high, causing midfielder Ryder Hewitt (12) to miss the header. Harker earned another free kick with 15:55 left, which Ryder took, but the King’s goalie snatched his attempt from the air. Winger Arun Banerjee (9) commented on the Eagles’ close moments.
“Mentally, I think we were just a little bit out of it today,” Arun said. “We usually have no more than 10 spectators usually, whereas it’s around 50 today. So I think some people were just a little bit distracted today.”
Two more forays into the Knights’ goal box at 12:33 and 7:01 both came up short. At 4:20, King’s had an opportunity to pull ahead: an errant Harker pass snowballed into a one-on-one confrontation between goalkeeper Mikhil and a King’s forward. Mikhil came off his line and tackled the defender to end the first half 0-0.
To begin the second half, King’s built a push of their own, crossing the ball into Harker’s penalty box before Mikhil batted down the pass. Mikhil anchored the defense by collecting a loose ball after a King’s corner kick.
As Stanley repeatedly tried to drive upfield, King’s defended him with more and more physicality, causing several turnovers. With 21:06 remaining in the second half, Ryder received a yellow card after slightly pushing a King’s forward while defending.
“Before this season, I was only playing against people my age because of club soccer,” Arun said. “But over here, it’s a lot more physical, and the seniors showed me that you have to be a lot tougher to survive at this level. That’s what I’ve looked up to this season, and that’s what I’m trying to embody right now.”
King’s rapidly pushed into Harker’s third with 9:37 left, but Mikhil blocked the resulting shot. In the following three minutes, the Knights took three more shots, but all were stifled by the Eagles’ defense. The Eagles took one last attempt on goal in stoppage time: Ryder curved a corner into the box, but the King’s goalie caught Vova’s header.
“We were able to really find our strikers tonight, even though we weren’t able to really capitalize on our opportunities,” Kim said. “The fact that we got the opportunities was a plus in itself. And obviously, our defense was always strong. We always preach ‘First to the ball, don’t let the ball bounce. If the ball bounces, go for the second ball.’ And I think our defense did that well.”
