De Anza Men's Soccer defeats Evergreen Valley College

De Anza College Men's Soccer Team Defeats Evergreen Valley College

Nov. 7, 2017

De Anza men’s soccer defeated the Evergreen Valley Hawks 2-1 in an emotional game on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at De Anza College. After losing 1-0  in the first half, head coach Rusty Johnson made a strategic shift to gain two goals in the second half.

The game served as the Dons’ sophomore night, in which they honored their sophomore players, who are in their last season of eligibility.

Tensions between the two teams were high, as De Anza seeked revenge for an off-field incident last year, in which an Evergreen Valley player attacked a De Anza player.

In the first half, the De Anza players stood in a 4-3-3 formation.  

Shortly after the start of the game, Dons midfielder Fernando Biorato was taken out by a collision on the field. Midfielder Joshua Varon was also simultaneously hurt by aggressive pushing, which resulted in a penalty for the Hawks. Varon walked off the field with a limp.

The Dons were forced to play along the outskirts of the field in the half, as the Hawks prevented the Dons’ midfielders from delegating the ball and making strategic passes. Midfielders are the catalysts of new plays, and are responsible for passing the ball out to other team members to start a new play.

Varon returned to the game, but committed a foul in De Anza’s goal box, thus granting Evergreen a penalty kick. Evergreen defender Mario Garcia converted the kick, putting the Hawks up 1-0, which remained the score heading into the half.

Johnson decided to make a tactical change at the half, and shifted the Dons’ formation to 3-1-4-2 for the remainder of the game.

“We placed two forwards in the front and two midfielders in the middle,” Johnson said. “We knew that since they (Hawks) would not press high, we can deal with the three backs.” This helped the Dons control the ball better, which enabled them to have a strong force at the top.

Buoyed by the tactical change, the Dons made a resurgence.

Varon, after getting walked out in the first half, scored the equalizer. Then, with 17 minutes remaining, forward Sahir Mattia scored the game-winner for De Anza.

Varon received a yellow card with five minutes left, but the Dons held on.

“This game (was) really important. We had to come out and press hard,” Varon said.

The game was rough Joshua Varon states his mindset and motivation when entering the game, “This game is really important, we had to come out and press hard.” After getting walked out in the first half of the game Veron steps back into the second half and scores a goal.  

The second goal was by no. 11, forward player, Sahir Mattia with 17 minutes left on the clock. The crowd cheers for the teams come back. The crowd was standing up and down out of their seats as the teams are fighting to win.

Another yellow card for Dons player no. 13, with five minutes left of the game.

Sahir Mattia, 20, liberal arts and science major, is the team captain explaining his influence towards Freshman players, “I want the guys to be focused on and off the field.” He says in order to have a humble and honorable game.

Photos by: Megan Wong

“Sophomore Game Day” on Tuesday Nov. 7th. All sophomores played on Tuesday for their last few days playing for the Dons.