CAPISTRANO VALLEY- The Varsity Boys' Varsity Soccer team came up short against Capistrano Valley High School on December 2 during their first game of the winter season. Although the team was pumped up for the game, a few teammates were worried about Capistrano's impressive reputation. “We’re a new program with new coaches and a young team,” explained senior Poya Osgouei, #9, defense.
    At the beginning of the game in the first kickoff, Beckman started out with the ball. Three minutes into the game, Capo set up an attack to score, but Beckman’s defense stopped them in the process. After starter junior Ivan Mejia, #7, middle, was yellow carded for arguing with the referee, sophomore Nicolay Lameijer, #15, defense, stepped up to fulfill his role. 
    As the game proceeded, many issues affected the players. Lameijer described, “Some of the conditions that affected us to lose could have been that we were not nutritionally fit. Many people started to cramp up.” 
    Three minutes before the end of the half, junior Sean Nguyen, #1, goalie blocked a shot from Capo which then led into a corner kick, and junior Eric Mejia, #10, defense, was yellow carded due to knocking a guy over. 
     At half time, the score was a steady 0-0. Coach Scott changed the game in the second half. Scott explained how he “loved the way the boys were doing and they should keep it up.” Beckman prepared themselves mentally as well as physically for the second half of the game. Ten minutes in, Mejia cross cage kicked the ball over to Osgouei, who took control and scored, 1-0. Although the Patriots stood on top for a bit, it lasted only a few minutes. Capo came back strong, making the end score, 2-3. Junior Arian Mirmehdi, #5, defense, declared, “I don’t think the loss was deserved. We worked hard the whole game, and their goals were just luck.”
    As far as the rest of the season, Lamijer, Mirmehdi and Osgouei all agreed on their goals. “We would like to make it to CIF, beat Tustin, and work to the best of our abilities,” Lameijer stated. As they prepare for their upcoming games, the boys know that they will need to work harder than ever to be physically and mentally in the zone.