Girls’ varsity soccer lost 2-0 against Pittsburg High School in wet conditions at home on December 14.
After an early shot on goal was blocked by the Pirate’s keeper, the Cougars found themselves playing defense for the remained of the match.
Campolindo head coach Ernesto Silva new that Pittsburg posed a challenge going in. “We knew that Pittsburg had a couple very talented players. And we also knew that they had done well against common opponents, so we knew it was a team that could give us a good game,” he said.
Junior Lisa Bramley, a center defender, agreed. “We knew that they were very skillful with the ball and they were very individual. Other then that, we really had no clue. We haven’t played them before,” she said.
5 minutes into the 1st half, Pittsburg scored their 1st goal. It was the only score of the 1st half.
According to Silva, the Cougars didn’t do anything special to prepare for the Pirates. He said, “What we did is try to continue doing what we’ve been trying to work on so far this season to make sure that we start developing our system of play. We didn’t really prepare specifically for them, we’re more concerned about getting the play that we want.”
“The best part of the game was the last ten minutes when we all came together as a team and really worked to come back from our two point deficit,” said Bramley.
Despite the loss, Silva is pleased with the season so far. “I think that the girls are slowly but surely starting to understand what it is that I’m trying to accomplish with them. And given the fact that there’s a lot of new players, and that we lost some very talented players last year to graduation, I think that we’re gonna get there. We’re gonna keep on getting better and better,” he said.
“Our team is getting along really well but we’ve lost 2 games already. [The outcome of the game] was more of a surprise, and an eye-opener too because sometimes we have the mindset like, ‘oh this is just gonna be another game, we’re gonna win’ but then they beat us,” Bramley said.
Silva said given the chance, he would “play a different defense and get a little more attack-minded,” against the Pirates.
Like her coach, Bramley is optimistic about the upcoming season. She explained, “There’s talent all around our team. I’ve just got to put more effort on the field, like go 110% instead of 100%.”
