A Difficult Defeat For The Scots

The Caledonia Men’s Soccer team ended their season Wednesday night at home with an upsetting loss to the Holt Rams. Going into the game, the Fighting Scots were ranked 28th in the state and the Rams right above them in 27th. 

By the end of the first half, both teams were left scoreless. Evan Johnson, one of Caledonia’s seniors, recalls his coach telling the team at halftime to “keep putting on pressure.” In the second half, Evan scored the first goal of the game with a through ball to a corner shot. Shortly after, the Rams scored as well. 

The game clock ran out of time and the score was tied at 1-1. Soccer games can end in a tie, but because this was a district game, there must be one winner. The teams headed into overtime, each hoping to continue their season.

Overtime lasted for twenty minutes total without a change in the score. The two teams took turns with penalty kicks (for a penalty kick, each team has five kicks into the net, and whoever has the most goals wins). Holt made all five of their kicks, while Caledonia made three and missed two, ending the game with a score of 4-6.

 For some players, this game was the end of their high school soccer career. Senior Sebastian Aguillon De La Maza explained what he thought was their biggest struggle throughout the game. “Just finishing. We had so many chances and we just couldn’t put it away.” For younger players, they will have other chances in the coming years to get further in the postseason. Junior Jonathan Zamudio-Santoyo said, “We can’t let that happen again. Last year we made it to district finals, and I’m looking to go farther.”