A preseason loss serves to organize a young Kennedy team

Kennedy’s preseason opener was a 1-0 loss against Salesian on Thursday evening.

“It’s the first time Salesian has beat us in a long time,” Kennedy Coach Aaron Colacion said. He attributed the loss to the team’s need to refine basic skills like passing and moving the ball down the field.

In the first half Salesian was winning in the midfield, keeping possession with short passes. Though neither team scored, it was clear the Eagles would have to stay sharp to get the ball through the middle to their strong strikers.

Another factor in what Colacion referred to as a lack of organization is the team’s age. A couple weeks ago, Kennedy’s varsity team was Kennedy’s junior varsity team. Then the would-be varsity players were sidelined because of bad grades.

“It was tough,” team captain Carlos Rivas said. Rivas is one of three seniors on the team. There is one junior and the rest of the team is made up of sophomores and freshmen.

Despite their collective youth, Rivas said the team gave it the best they had.

From the stands, Roque Rivas sat in quiet support of his son. For Rivas senior, this game was the beginning of his son’s last high school season – a season in which he hopes Carlos’ skills and commitment earn him a college scholarship.

Carlos’ fancy footwork and team ethic are a product of over a decade at play. His goals are simple: study hard, play hard. With this mantra, Carlos knows his dreams of college success and a spot on a European team are with in reach.

To this end, Rivas senior had one thing to say: “I support him.” For it is his dream to see his family ascend from military roots in El Salvador to advanced scholastic success in the United States.

At the top of the second half it seemed the Eagles would break the zero tie, but their hard press was deflected.

A few minutes later Salesian scored what would be the game’s only goal.

When the final whistle blew the teams exchanged cordialities, and the Eagles circled to begin their cool down stretches and reflect on how they could fare better in future games.

Colacion went player by player, offering words of construction and encouragement as Rivas sat in the center calling out the next stretch.

Colacion said most of the boys started off playing street ball and now the goal is to “learn how to play organized soccer.”