Boys' soccer loses in CIF quarterfinals

Gregory BoehmStaff WriterSamo boys’ soccer’s CIF run came to an end on Thursday, Feb. 23 when the team lost 1-0 to Cathedral High School during CIF quarterfinals.Samo and Cathedral were neck-and-neck up until the end of the second half, and ended the game tied 0-0. They then went into overtime.According to head coach Serafin Rodriguez, a new CIF "Golden Goal" rule meant that the first team to score a goal in overtime would win the game and move on to the semifinals.Off of an unlucky break, a Cathedral forward beat the Samo defense and slipped the ball past senior goalkeeper and co-captain Aziz "The Brick Wall" Yehia, making that the only goal Samo let in over the course of CIF."They caught us on the counter-attack and they had some very skilled wing players," The Brick wall said. "It was one-on-one. He beat my defender with speed and then he finished well. You got to hand it to the winger who made a great play and if you're gonna go out let it be off of a good play, but all in all it's just another brick in the wall"“I’ve been here,” Rodriguez said. “I played here with this team and I know exactly what they are feeling right now. It will be very difficult to swallow it, but there is life after soccer.”This loss marks the end of the team’s 2012 season, but for the 18 seniors on the team it marks the end of their Samo soccer career.“I’m just glad that we got to play together and I’m always going to remember this year,” senior defender Zach Leal said.Although this loss is unfortunate, the team will not let it define Samo's great overall season and program."I'm still playing club soccer. I'm still going to be playing soccer," Yehia said. "That's not really the issue, it's just more of the sense of Samo community and pride, Having the fan support, having the team bonding. That's what I'm really going to miss."gboehm@thesamohi.com