Boys’ soccer falls to La Cañada in narrow 2-1 matchup

By Noah Miyamae

Assoc. Sports Editor

Photos by Hana Tyszka

The boys’ varsity soccer team fell to the La Cañada Spartans at home on Friday, February 5 by a score of 2-1. This loss gives the Tigers 2-5-1 record in Rio Hondo League play and 4-9-2 overall.

The Spartans took an immediate lead within minutes off of a header from a corner kick. However, the South Pas defense held La Cañada for the remainder of the half and sophomore defender Hank Rainey spearheaded the strong effort. The Tigers fought hard to create multiple chances for an equalizer, but the score remained 1-0 going into the half.

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The second half was similar to the first as the teams saw few offensive opportunities. However. La Cañada got very physical as the clock began to wind down and the two sides began to feud. Within the last 20 minutes, senior midfielder Oskar Hernandez would tie the game 1-1 off of a penalty kick. Despite this, La Cañada would score in the final minutes to take the lead as the Tigers were flagged and the Spartans earned a penalty kick. By the end of the game, there would be over ten yellow cards between both sides.

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“This was a tough loss as we could have easily won, but the penalties hurt us greatly,”  sophomore Jack Renken said, “We will come back with a vengeance next year when we face them.”

The team’s next match will be on Tuesday, February 9 at home against the Temple City Rams. South Pas hopes to finish strong in its final two games remaining in league season.