Boys soccer shuts out Hawthorne in an impressive 4-0 win

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, Samo boys soccer laced up to play Hawthorne High School. Samo dominated the game and won 4-0.Going into the match, Hawthorne was last in the league with an 0-6 record. Samo was undefeated in Ocean League, but they knew they needed to take their competition seriously if they wanted to stay that way.Samo looked strong from the beginning and kept the ball mostly in Hawthorne’s half. Very early on, mid-fielder Ryan Lane (’19) had a breakaway, but the shot hit the left post and skidded out of bounds. Although such a close goal was a disappointment to the team, it gave them momentum, and from then on they pressured non-stop. Just a minute later, Samo had another breakaway and crossed to forward Soroosh Ghaffari (’18), who just missed the goal. Samo created chance after chance, but had yet to capitalize. However, they repeatedly split Hawthorne’s defensive line using through balls. Ten minutes in, Samo’s number nine received a through ball, and this time faked out the goalkeeper one on one and passed it into the empty net. The team was finally able to put points on the board and led 1-0. The game remained high-paced as Samo continuously put shots on goal. About 15 minutes in, Hawthorne began to pressure more and moved the ball into Samo’s half. Hawthorne put up their first shot of the game, but goalkeeper Nate Comay (’19) saved it. As the first half came to a close, Samo desperately wanted to put themselves in a more comfortable lead. With 10 minutes to go, the team drove down the field and missed two incredibly close goals within a minute of one another. Despite these missed opportunities, Samo was winning 1-0 at the end of the half. Samo’s backup goalkeeper Max Nemoy (’20) felt that the team had some bad luck the first half, but was confident in their abilities.“The first forty minutes were very unlucky for our team as the chances were just not falling. However, we were dominating the game and performing well,” Nemoy said.Hungry to make the scoreboard reflect their playing, Samo came out strong in the second half. Less than five minutes in, Lane dribbled through the middle of Hawthorne’s half and swung left. He then shot skillfully into the right side of the net, making the game 2-0.Samo was now getting into a rhythm and Hawthorne began to look defeated. Less than 15 minutes in, Samo got another throw in and mid-fielder Ziya Jang (’19) flicked a header into the net. This goal stretched the score to 3-0. Although they now had a comfortable lead, Samo was not ready to back off, and soon after forward Sean Flood (’19) capitalized on a break away. In just 15 minutes, Samo had extended their lead to 4-0. For the rest of the game, Samo continued to pressure Hawthorne and kept the ball in their half. They created several chances, but weren’t able to finish. Despite their many missed opportunities to make the win even bigger, Samo walked away with an impressive 4-0 shutout. Comay voiced his happiness with the outcome, and was proud of the team for executing their game plan.“We knew that we had to score first, and that’s exactly what we did. It is great to see that we did this not only once, but four times,” Comay said. Even though this game was an “easy” win for Samo, it showed the team what they could improve upon. Nemoy expressed how this game served as a learning experience for future matches.“This [match] showed our team the importance of killing another team off as quickly as possible to ensure an easy result. With three games left, every opportunity to win is crucial to our goal of league champions,” Nemoy said.