Boys soccer wins in season opener
By Brendan Henry
The Surveyor
Coming off a 5-9-1 record last year and beginning the season with a 2-2 draw against Mountain View, the BHS soccer team stormed the pitch with a chip on their shoulder. Mountain View stood in the crosshairs of the young Spartan group and would fall victim to the well-rounded play built off of last year’s culture-building season.
Immediately the team’s tone was different than last year. Instead of favoring their half, Berthoud made purposeful passes to set up attacking positions. Skill moves rarely seen in the previous year was used to near perfection, such as junior Brycen Buxbaum’s ankle-breaking moves used to place the perfect shot, extending the lead to 1-0 before the half.
The dichotomy between last year’s team to this year’s was not only apparent in the team’s attacking ability and footwork, but also in their defensive abilities. At times last year, junior goalkeeper Kodiak Byron seemed to be alone, suffering many one-on-ones with varying success in stopping goals. Against Mountain View, the back line was there to help Byron with clearances and blocks, easing Byron’s workload and keeping him fresh when the big shots came his way.
Looking a bit less intense in the second half, Berthoud maintained their lead by making important defensive stops and moving the ball around the middle of the field. Although there was some struggle with settling airballs and the occasional slipup in passing, the Spartans overcame when sophomore Isaac Hymel blasted a ball in the back of the net in perfect form from the left side of the box to extend the lead to 2-0.
The team had many opportunities to score and could have certainly extended the lead further.
“I’d like to see us be a little more clinical. You know, maybe we had what, four or five shots on target, you know, how can we put more of those away, right? It’s a big conversation because that’s going to be the difference between, you know, doing well this season and going far,” Coach Dylan Owens said after the game.
Owens noted that both finishing goals and fitness might be the two biggest hurdles throughout the season. He is optimistic about the energy they started the match with but said he can likely see the difference in the second half both based on what he saw on the field and his own stat sheet. Fortunately, the difference between this year and last is that Owens can now put in freshmen and “not miss a beat” as Owens puts it since the team has gained depth on the roster.
Building a genuine soccer culture has been Owens’ goal since taking over the team only two weeks before the season began last year, and with the first match going in the win column, both Owens and his team remain optimistic.
“Everything we’ve done from the beginning, it’s just to give them a way to play football and tell them that whether I’m right or wrong, this is the way we’re gonna do it,” Owens said. “It’s a tribute to these boys and these parents that support, that have allowed them to lean into that. That is the product that you see here. You know, it’s the buying in, working hard, showing up and making it happen.”
Berthoud’s next match is at home against the Academy at 4 p.m. on Aug. 24.
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