7th/8th grade soccer team drops opener

Soccer is one of those sports where you can control the tempo for most of the game and still end up on the losing end.

That's exactly what happened to the 7th/8th graders in their season opener Saturday at West Sunset.

Despite having possession of the ball for most of the game, the boys were on the short end of a 3-1 loss to start 2013.

Alan scored a goal less than a minute into the 3rd quarter and cut the lead in half to 2-1. But an overplay by the defense early in the fourth led to the third goal by the other team, which sealed the deal.

The other team scored two goals on St. Mary's mistakes late in the first half. Following a poor throw-in, the 7th/8th graders could not control the ball and move it upfield. The other team capitalized and deposited the first goal on a breakaway against Garrick, who started in goal.

Just a few minutes later, a poor goal kick, and the inability to move the ball out of their box resulted in goal number two.

#27 on the other team scored all three goals and recorded a hat trick.

The difference in the game was that all the big plays were made by the other team. St. Mary's only got two legitimate scoring chances even though for the better part of the game, the 7th/8th graders were on the attack.

Garrick didn't even touch a ball in the second half until a few minutes into the 4th quarter.

The defense for the most part was strong, but the few lapses ended up in the back of the St. Mary's net. Matthew and Ryan K. had strong games for the backfield.

Team chemistry is still a work in progress with four new players to the team. The players are still adjusting to playing with each other and learning to communicate.

And with the only a week or so of practice, the team is still trying to iron out the wrinkles.

It's going to be a challenging year, because for the first time in St. Mary's soccer history, a team will not be playing in the lowest division. Following their championship appearance last season, the 7th/8th graders were bumped up a division.

Soccer Notebook: Throw-ins continue to be a problem as several of the boys were called for violating the throw-in rules by either lifting their foot, spinning the ball, and even crossing the line...Raymond had a good scoring chance in the second half but unfortunately slipped on his way to get the ball...For a 7th/8th grade team in the second division, there were too many swing and misses...Karina and Vivianna showed their St. Mary's Athletics spirit and attended the game a night after they won the CYO volleyball tournament championship...Jamie and Brendan also made appearances.