All knotted up
Prep boys soccer: 2 league games end in draw, Hart wins
Valencia boys soccer’s Friday afternoon match against Saugus may have ended in a 1-1 draw, but Vikings coach Tony Scalercio was able to see small wins for his team within the game.
“To come into Saugus and get a result to get the tie was good,” said Scalercio. “Saugus is a good team, there’s no doubt about it and we’re both fighting for that last playoff spot, so it was a battle.”
The Vikings (3-7-4 overall, 1-3-2 in Foothill League) built a brick wall of a defense in the first half, with goalkeeper Harrison Koury fending off shots from every angle.
Saugus’ attack wasn’t letting up, either.
“One of the things that we need to work on is just putting that ball away and we struggled with that last time we played Valencia, where we had a lot of opportunities,” said Cents coach Seth Groller. “Again (we) had a lot of opportunities today. Their keeper came up huge.”
Valencia center midfielder Ian Young scored in the 27th minute, giving his team a much-needed offensive boost.
After an Evan Ross throwin, Ethan Alvarez bounced the ball over to Young, who volleyed it with his left foot on a second touch with traffic in front of the net.
“From there it was just awesome,” Young said. “It was an awesome feeling. I just think it was a team effort, that tie, too bad it didn’t become a win.”
The Centurions (8-5-5, 2-22) evened the score late in the second half on a penalty kick. Anthony Landeros buried the ball to give Saugus a late jolt of energy.
Before Friday evening’s Foothill League boys soccer action began, Saugus sat in third place in the league standings. Valencia was in