On Thursday, Jan. 29, Buena Bulldogs faced off in an intense game against the Pacifica Tridents. After a close match, with Buena’s down a point at 0-1, the Bulldogs pulled through and tied the game, the final score ending in 1-1.
The Buena Bulldogs started the game off strong by doing a good job of pressuring Pacifica to force turnovers. Buena had to play this game pretty defensively because Pacifica was very good on the ball giving them a lot of early opportunities.
There was not much action in the first half besides a couple promising attacks from the Bulldogs. At the very beginning of the second half with 37 minutes left to go, Pacifica scored, making it 0-1. The Bulldogs bounced back with some more attacks, forcing Pacifica to foul them. Bulldogs came close to scoring with a couple of free kicks but sadly couldn’t get past Pacifica’s keeper.
With 27 minutes left, senior Chase Strople had a great pass to Joaquin Guerrero using precise passing, giving Buena a very promising attack and forcing the keeper to try and make more saves. Despite this, Pacifica still led 0-1. With around 13 minutes left in the game, Striker Hector Gamez received the ball off of a pass from his teammate to score, tying the game 1-1.
“I feel good… just a way to help my team tie, I just feel good,” freshman Hector Gamez said when asked about his goal.
Towards the end of the game, Pacifica came back with a strong counter-attack, However, goalkeeper Jaden Hilbert made a hard save, keeping the score at a tie.
After a strong series of attacks from Pacifica, the Buena Bulldogs were able to successfully defend and run out the clock ending the game in a 1-1 tie. Recently, Buena has been able to stay in games, getting a few ties. Some of the keys to this are finishing the opportunities that appear to score a goal. Because even if you play great defense, you can’t win if you don’t score.
“We are getting about five opportunities to bury one, and we have to be able to do that,” varsity coach Alfonso Rodriguez said.
