With a loss against North Monterey County and a win against San Lorenzo Valley, the Carmel High boys’ soccer team is looking forward to getting their season on track and pursuing a spot in the CCS playoffs.
The Padres recently found themselves victorious Dec. 4 as they defeated San Lorenzo Valley 3-1. Senior Max Yeater scored two goals with senior Colin Empey contributing an assist to one of those, while junior Andrew Good also added an assist to sophomore Jose Reyes.
Although this win for the Padres was definitely a confidence booster, the team will be faced with some adversity this year, mainly to overcome having a somewhat young and inexperienced team.
“I think it’s going to be more difficult this year to get chemistry going because we have a lot of young new guys,” Empey says, “but we have a solid group of seniors, plus some talented younger players, and the new coach is definitely going to make us the best team possible.”
Having to deal with finding what position some of the younger guys are going to play, the Padres will be working to eventually have a solid all-around team.
“I think we have some pretty strong defenders and midfielders,” first-year head coach Jose Ramos says. “We have one really strong forward, but we don’t have much experience up there besides him.”
With the newly acquired coach only having one week of practice before the Padres’ season began, the admirable performance by the Padres in the first game and a victory in week two set the bar high for this season.
“I can’t wait for this young team to develop,” Yeater says. “Once we reach our potential this year, we will reach the level of play that we expect from our team and will be a top team this year.”
Although posed with the tough task of facing North Monterey County in their first game Dec. 2, the Padres were not shaken in the 4-1 loss and were able to find the net in the second half by Empey.
“These guys are really eager to be out there on the field,” Ramos says. “The seniors are setting a really good example, and the younger guys are really stepping up and handling the pressure in games well.”
The Padres will no doubt be setting their expectation for this year very high.
“Our expectation, not just mine but the players as well, this year is to pass the first round of CCS,” Ramos explains.
The team definitely plans to have an overall successful season, but the team must develop some chemistry to compete if they plan to defeat playoff teams.
The Padres face Soquel on Friday at 3:30 at Carmel Middle, and the team has another big game against Palma on Dec. 19 at Rabobank Stadium.
-ARAM BERBERIAN
