By JON HABER I Special to the Daily Press
SANTA MONICA The Santa Monica High School boys’ soccer team suffered a 3-1 loss to Coachella Valley last February in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division IV playoffs. The team hasn’t seen a marker in the loss column since.
Last year’s season-ending defeat motivated the strong core of juniors to bounce back this season as seniors with a vengeance in their journey to a CIF championship.
“When we left Coachella Valley last year, it was definitely a learning experience,” head coach Frank Gatell said. “I told the players, remember this feeling, and next year, you need to make it happen.”
The players haven’t disappointed their coach so far, finishing the ‘07-’08 regular season 22-0-1 and defeating Bishop Montgomery 3-0 Friday in the first round of the CIF playoffs.
“We scored all three goals in the first half, so we were able to get over our first-round jitters. It took a little bit of getting used to the playoff atmosphere,” said Gatell, whose Vikings didn’t score until the game’s 24th minute. “Then we did what we do best, find the back of the net.”
The victory over Bishop Montgomery sets up a second round matchup between Samohi and El Segundo (6-7-2) this afternoon in El Segundo at 3 p.m.
Not only will the Vikings be playing away from Santa Monica, but they will also have to adjust to a tighter field in El Segundo.
“Right now we’re practicing a lot of simple two-touch soccer in confined spaces, making sure we’re comfortable with pressure and making sure we play our game,” Gatell said. “The Eagles are a team that’s going to sit back. They primarily prey on counter-attacks, so we need to possess the ball in the fashion we know how to.”
Gatell said outside of his core group of forwards, lead by senior Charlie Paris, who scored two-goals against Bishop Montgomery, he will be looking for a combined team effort to take down the Eagles “We’ll need solid play from our sweeper Nick Ferro. In the mid-field, we’ll need Luis Zavala to make sure he controls the pace and sets the tone for us to play to touch-on-the-ground soccer,” he said.
Gatell will also be looking for his defense, lead by senior goalkeeper Alex Kovacs, to make sure El Segundo doesn’t have a strong offensive attack. If the Vikings can put playoff distractions aside, the coach is confident his team can continue their winning ways.
“We just need to settle down,” Gatell said. “We’ve played in hostile environments before, so we just need to make sure we play our kind of game.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 19, 2008. Read the original PDF.