The West Ranch boys soccer team beat Calabasas 2-1 at West Ranch on Wednesday.
First-year head coach Mike Kane has emphasized hard work and effort at practice in his short tenure and the results have shown.
“My emphasis with the boys is attitude and effort,” Kane said. “As long as we have those two things, I think we will be fine.”
The Wildcats (2-0 overall) lit the scoreboard up off of a corner kick as defender Vincent Guerrero pushed forward from his backline position to head in the go-ahead goal.
The Coyotes returned the favor and scored fairly quickly to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the half.
“Calabasas was kind of speedy. They seemed to be beating us to the ball in the first half and outhustling us, I thought,” Kane said. “But we made adjustments and we did what we needed to do to get the win.”
Out of the half, West Ranch came out with a determined urgency against Calabasas (0-1). One of three captains on the day, Shea Weiner scored the game-winning goal in the second half.
“Shea has been a real good leader for us. He’s one of our captains in the midfield,” Kane said. “I’m very happy with his play.”
West Ranch’s other two captains on the day: Noah Jonson and Niko Marquez provided good ball-handling and creativeness in the middle of the pitch.
Elijah Beaubien and Jacob Gendein provided scoring opportunities and attacking prowess up to at the forward positions.
“I’m learning about this team every day, I really am,” Kane said. “They have worked hard and have made it a joy for me to be their coach. I’ve enjoyed the leadership and the communication with them. They are stubborn and I love it.”
The Wildcats play Simi Valley at 5 p.m. at Simi Valley on Saturday.