Boys soccer breezes by Beverly in 4-0 shutout

On Friday, Feb. 2, fans crowded the field as Samo boys soccer faced long-time rival Beverly Hills High School. Despite a serious injury causing the game to end early, Samo fought hard and won 4-0.From the moment the whistle blew, Samo played with high intensity. Initially, they kept the ball in Beverly’s half, but didn’t create many opportunities. Just a few minutes in, Samo made a great drive down the field, but couldn’t capitalize.Samo looked very strong and proved to Beverly early that they were playing to win. The ball hardly ever got into Samo’s half, and every time Beverly gained possession Samo quickly recaptured it. Ten minutes into the game, a Beverly defender fouled midfielder Ryan Lane (’19) inside the penalty box, which gave Samo a penalty kick. Justin Bautista (’19) took the kick and placed it near the left corner of the goal. Beverly’s goalie could not save the skillfully placed ball, which put Samo in the lead 1-0.After Bautista’s goal, Samo picked up the intensity even more. They played calmly, dominated the middle of the field and began to create even more chances. Forward Jaylen Erhahon (’18) blasted a shot from right outside the box, but it was just high of the goal. Right after, Lane crossed a near-perfect ball to Bautista, but his header was saved by Beverly’s goalie. After several close goals, a cross was made to left winger Nathaniel DeRose (’19), who one-timed it into the left side of the net. With twenty minutes left in the first quarter, Samo extended their lead to 2-0.Although they were now winning more comfortably, Samo did not back off. They won every ball out of the air and seemed to dictate all aspects of the game. With 10 minutes to go, DeRose received a cross from the goal line and shot it past the goalie’s arms, making the score 3-0.With the half almost coming to a close, Beverly Hills was desperately trying to gain some momentum. Beverly made a drive with six minutes to go and got a corner kick, but Samo was able to clear it. Minutes later Beverly attacked again and put up their first shot on goal. The shot was right down the middle and goalkeeper Nate Comay (’19) saved it. For the last five minutes, Beverly began to pressure more on Samo’s half, but were stopped before they could score. After an exhausting first half, Samo led 3-0.Re-energized from the halftime break, Samo and Beverly Hills both came out with extreme energy. Beverly Hills seemed to adjust their game plan and were getting into Samo’s half more often. However, Samo wasn’t letting up and kept counterattacking towards Beverly’s goal. During the beginning of the second half, another goal-line cross was made, this time to forward Soroosh Ghaffari (’18), who placed it into the corner of the net. Down 4-0, Beverly Hills was starting to look a bit defeated, but continued to battle until the final whistle blew. However, the game ended suddenly with 20 minutes left when a Beverly player jumped up into the air to try to win a header, but came down awkwardly on his ankle. The player was seriously injured, so severely that the team called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Once the ambulance arrived, the player was thought to have suffered a broken ankle. With this serious blow to Beverly, the two teams agreed to end the game early, and because Samo was up 4-0 they came out with the win. While boys soccer was saddened to see a fellow player get injured, no one could deny Samo’s fantastic performance. Comay expressed his satisfaction with the team’s play, despite the early ending of the match.“The game ended abruptly, but we had a commanding lead over the opposition. Following the beginning of the second half, we knew we were going to win,” Comay said.Varsity’s assistant coach Daniel Hulbert was also extremely pleased with the team’s performance, especially compared to the last time they faced Beverly.“We managed to get a 1-0 victory in the first game against these guys, where we didn't create many chances. This game was completely different, as we were more ruthless in every aspect of the game and did a great job breaking them down. It’s encouraging to not only see our play on the field improving, but [to] also see the mentality of this team continue to improve,” Hulbert said.Samo will celebrate their victory while keeping their focus on the last few games and fine-tuning their play before CIF.