The San Marino High boys’ soccer team had one final tune-up match before embarking in Rio Hondo League play, and the last test of the nonleague run was against Gold Coast League foe Windward.
Against the visiting Wildcats, the Titans could not contain Windward’s Owen Shore, and fell 7-2 in a nonleague match on Dec. 8.
“We just need to clean up some technical issues in the back, just too many turnovers that led to a goal,” San Marino associate head coach Vincenzo Costagliola said. “Other than that, the guys showed heart we can still build off coming into next week for [league] season.”
Shore had five goals against San Marino (1-5 overall). The sophomore scored the first two of the game in the second and 14th minutes. Shore continued to produce, completing his hat trick early in the second half. The sophomore added two more goals in the 46th and 50th minutes, after which he was taken out.
Shore’s two goals in the first 14 minutes set the tone. The first came off of a rebound when Titan goalkeeper Nickolas Acuna made an acrobatic save but spilled the ball back into play, allowing Shore to tap it in the corner of the goal. The second goal came after Shore beat three defenders near the top of the box before shooting across the goalmouth and in.
Wildcat Kyler Zanuck scored the third goal of the contest in the 28th minute to set the halftime margin at 3-0 in favor of Windward (4-1). It could have been worse, as Acuna made four, difficult saves in the opening half.
The hosts scored first after the break thanks to a goal by Diego Garcia in the 45th minute. Titan Kainen Desai was battling deep in the corner with two Windward defenders before digging the ball out and sending it into the box. Titan Turner Dawes let the ball go by before Garcia struck a shot along the ground that went into the back of the net.
“Turner left the ball for me because I called for it,” Garcia said. “I’d had a lot of bad touches. I was stressed out, but I just tried it with my left foot and it went nice into the corner.”
Less than a minute later, Shore answered with a goal on a shot from a tight angle deep on the right side. Shore scored again just under five minutes later after he was taken down in the box and earned a penalty shot he successfully put away before going to the bench for the rest of the contest, leading 6-1.
San Marino netted another goal thanks to the “gut” instincts of Dawes. Desai sent a free kick from the right side into the mixer in front of the box, and eventually the ball careened off Dawes’ stomach and in.
“It was definitely an interesting goal,” Turner said. “It was off that kick and it just ricocheted in the pile for a little while. Then Diego hit it, it ricocheted off me, the goalie didn’t know what to do and it just went right by him.”
The final goal of the game was scored by Wildcat Theo Kwit with under four minutes remaining to set the final margin.
It was the Titans’ third straight defeat following their first win of the campaign, a 1-0 triumph over visiting La Salle on Nov. 28. The win against the Lancers was a breakthrough of sorts for the San Marino boys, as it was their first win since Dec. 2, 2019.
The Titans opened their Rio Hondo League campaign at South Pasadena on Dec. 13. San Marino will look to break through in Rio Hondo play, where the program has not recorded a point in the standings for the past two seasons.
“The last couple years [in league] has just been a flop, so I’m just hoping we can pull through, maybe get a couple wins,” Garcia said. “I just want it to be better than last year.”
First published in the Dec. 14 issue of the San Marino Tribune
