The future of Wilcox boys soccer appears to be incredibly bright. The Chargers junior varsity squad scored four goals in each half on Thursday, knocking off their rival Santa Clara Bruins by an 8-0 final. Impressive ball movement with quick one-touch, give-and-go passing sequences sprung dozens of dangerous opportunities for the Chargers.
“Those are our warmup drills for every game,” confirmed Chargers Head Coach Joshua Foley. “One-touch and two-touch passing.”
The Chargers’ attack was led by a pair of brothers in sophomore Tommaso Peritore and freshman Vittorio Peritore. Tommaso Peritore scored twice while Vittorio Peritore added one of his own. The two play similar aggressive, physical styles.
“Italians man! They come from Italy, it’s in their blood,” chuckled Chargers’ sophomore midfielder Shivam Amin. “They are amazing players, they have strength, shooting, passing, speed. They are just too good.”
Arguably the prettiest goal of the game, though, came off the head of the Chargers’ defender Yuji Kusuyama who headed home a cross into the box, placing it perfectly into the far corner.
“[Yuji] is one of those guys who isn’t flashy, but he does his job and knows where to be on the field at all times,” remarked coach Foley. “He’s really gifted in that area of soccer awareness.”
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As for the Bruins side of things, it will be back to the drawing board.
“We’re gonna have to build from the ground up,” noted Bruins Head Coach Tony Azevedo. “Unfortunately, with a lot of my players not playing for club and not having that experience, it’s something we’re going to have to work on.”
While the Bruins are a young team, coach Azevedo has named one of his younger players, freshman Anthony Curiel, as his team captain. Curiel admitted after the game that he was hoping for a better performance in such a competitive rivalry match.
“Definitely needed more possession, needed to be better opening up, and not getting down on each other,” responded Curiel. “It was fun playing against those guys, but tough game for us. Pretty sure the whole school had much higher expectations going into this game.”
“Anthony is a very good player, he plays for a high-level club team, a local club for Santa Clara Sporting,” noted coach Azevedo. “And he just has a really great attitude. Really, really happy with him. He’s doing really well for us.”
The Bruins next take on Leland on Thursday, Dec. 28 and the Chargers have a bit of a break before battling Monta Vista to open league season on Jan. 3.