For the first time this season, the Valencia boys’ soccer team is above .500 in both overall and league play after securing a 2-0 win over the Canyon Cowboys at home Thursday.
“It’s always a really good battle with [Canyon],” Valencia head coach Jose Villafan said. “And obviously getting a 2-0 win is really good. To start off the league season with a win is good for morale and good for the team. So, really happy for the boys.”
The match against Canyon (2-11-1, 0-5) was the Vikings’ (5-4-2, 3-2) first in the calendar year. After a week of no play, Villafan saw some rust with some players and the lack of capitalizing on goal-scoring opportunities was apparent in the first half.
In the 35th minute of the first half, Valencia’s Logan Norsworthy shot a long kick toward the goal but narrowly missed as he hit the crossbar.
But a minute later, Norsworthy capitalized after Omid Gholamali assisted after hitting a crosskick from 20 yards out, and the Vikings took a 1-0 lead.
“We created a lot of opportunities that the score probably should have been a lot more than what we scored,” Villafan said. “But at the end of the day, once they’re creating the opportunities, we’re finding out we just got to put (one in the back of) the net consistently.”
Villafan added that he’s proud of his players’ effort to play as a team and stay motivated as it can be discouraging after missing out on scoring opportunities.
“We’ve been working a lot playing in spaces, finding the open man, finding those layoffs. A buildup goal all the way from the back is really amazing,” he said.
In the second half, the Vikings netted another goal in the 12th minute when Ciro Karapetyan scored after a direct shot to finish the game 2-0.
With the win, Villafan is glad to have his team back in league contention after beginning the season with losses to Saugus and Hart.
He added that, with the momentum from the win, the team can prepare to tackle the second half of the season with full force as they play next against Golden Valley on Tuesday at home with kick-off slated for 5 p.m.
“Golden Valley is going to be a tough game for us because we play a similar style to them,” Villafan said. “This is going to be who wants it more, but I’m really glad to be above .500 overall and league as well. So, we just got to continue to do the right things that we’ve been doing and just build on this and hopefully we just have a really good January.”
As for Canyon, the loss sets the team back to 0-5 in league play and seventh in the Foothill League standings.
The Cowboys will look to bounce back on the road at Castaic Tuesday with kick-off at 5 p.m.
After Thursday night’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League.
Boys’ soccer
Saugus 2, Golden Valley 0: The Centurions (8-2-1, 6-0) remained unbeaten after securing the win over the Grizzlies (5-4-1, 2-2-1) at Golden Valley.
The Grizzlies will look to bounce back at Valencia as they take on the Vikings Tuesday.
The Centurions have a scheduled bye on Tuesday and pick up league play on Thursday as they host the Castaic Coyotes.
Both games kick off at 5 p.m.
Hart 5, Castaic 0: The Hart Hawks (5-2-1, 2-1) secured the 5-0 home win over the Castaic Coyotes (0-8-1, 0-5).
The Hawks play again on Tuesday at home against Canyon while the Coyotes look to rebound against the West Ranch Wildcats with both games slated to begin at 5 p.m.
Girls’ soccer
Valencia 2, Canyon 0: The Lady Vikings (2-5-2, 2-2-1) secured the 2-0 road win over the Canyon Cowboys (4-7-1, 1-4) on Thursday.
Both teams play again on Tuesday at 5 p.m. with the Vikings facing the Grizzlies at Golden Valley and the Cowboys at home hosting the Castaic Coyotes.
Saugus 9, Golden Valley 0: The Centurions (8-3-2, 5-1) defeated the Grizzlies (1-14-2, 0-5) at home with senior Makea Leonard’s five-goal performance.
The Centurions play again next Thursday on the road against Castaic while the Grizzlies host Valencia on Tuesday with the game set to begin at 5 p.m.
Hart 1, Castaic 0: The Hawks’ (7-7, 5-0) lone goal in the win over the Coyotes (3-4, 2-3) was all that was needed for Hart to secure the victory at Castaic High School.
Both teams play again on Tuesday at 5 p.m. with the Hawks facing off against the West Ranch Wildcats and Coyotes at Canyon against the Cowboys.
Photos below from Valencia’s win over Canyon:
