JV soccer wins and keeps scoring tradition alive

By Dylan Lee,

HUB Correspondent–

The Davis High JV soccer team routed the Laguna Creek Cardinals 6-0 on Oct. 24 in Davis.

The Devils came into the game with confidence, scoring its first goal in the second minute. Freshman Matteo Sorrentino fired a shot off the woodwork from outside the box to put the locals ahead. The lead turned out to be one that they would not give up.

Only a few minutes later, a Davis attacker received a well-placed ball and slotted it past the opposing keeper for the Devils’ second goal of the game.

DHS dominated the rest of the half and used good ball movement and possession to control the flow of the game. Good runs were made by the forwards and midfielders, while defenders Matt Rowen, Buddhika Ratnasiri and Alex Dhond kept the Cardinals’ offense quiet.

Shortly after the first half ended, Laguna Creek’s Sammy Walker received a yellow card for arguing with the referee. Shortly thereafter, Connor Judd fired a penalty kick past the Laguna Creek keeper to put the Devils up 3-0.

After more opportunities on offense, Ethan Hessl finally found his way past multiple defenders and then found Thomas Lloyd for the fourth local goal.

Matthew Cheung finished off the Cardinals, scoring two goals in rapid succession, one off of a corner kick and another with a header.

After the game, DHS coach Jesus Mata was pleased with his team’s performance. “We are just a super athletic and really skilled team. So it’s tough for teams to get at our level and try to beat us,” he said.

Many DHS players played in positions that they don’t always play at in order to complete the JV soccer team’s tradition of having every player score. “There were certain players that haven’t scored up to this point. To have us be successful in keeping the tradition alive was really great,” Mata said.

Midfielder Ethan Hessl felt similarly to Mata about the game. “We played well as a team today, and our ball movement and passing really helped us get those goals out there,” he said.

Dan Schuman, a sophomore and DHS midfielder agreed. “I thought we all played well today and got a lot of good opportunities,” he said.