The varsity soccer team began the Mission League season playing Harvard Westlake today, on December 12th, at home. The two teams tied 1-1, ending Loyola’s winning streak.
Loyola started off the first half strong, making fast passes and multiple attempts to score. Senior Ben Beuerlein, after receiving a pass from Senior Henry Smith-Hastie, attempted to score but was blocked by the goalie. Smith-Hastie, dribbling down the field, kicked at the goal but missed just wide.
Loyola maintained possession throughout most of the first half, but Harvard-Westlake was able to score a goal about 10 minutes before halftime. The sudden goal by Harvard-Westlake caused Loyola to play at a faster pace. Senior Nicolas Mancilla said, “We just came out with a different mentality after being down a goal. We wanted to come out more aggressive and I think that's something that we lacked a little in the first half.”
Loyola’s change of mentality led to Smith-Hastie scoring a goal towards the end of the second half. Smith Hastie said, “The clock was running out and we were looking for that tying goal. Liam Hook made a beautiful cross and I got my head on the ball and headbutted it into the bottom corner of the goal.”
Harvard-Westlake unfortunately had several players suffer injuries during the second half. Two players with shin injuries were taken out of the game. The injuries significantly slowed down the game, but Loyola still played at a fast pace and maintained pressure.
Although Loyola did not lose, many members of the team felt disappointed by the outcome. Head Coach Chris Walter ‘93 said, “We need to continue to improve and we need to be able to battle in tough games like this. I’m glad we were able to come back after being down a goal but it was disappointing to tie. We had a few opportunities to potentially win the game, but their keeper was able to make a couple of really nice saves.”
A lack of intensity and over-confidence were Loyola’s greatest weakness during this game. Smith-Hastie said, “Everyone has been saying we are the top team in the nation and that really went into our heads. This was a good wake up call for us. It reminded us that we need to put in the work to succeed. We didn’t play with enough intensity, so we need to focus on becoming more aggressive.”
Walters said, “Harvard came out and gave us a battle. These are the types of games we need to be able to play to get to where we want to be. Mission League games are going to be competitive It's not going to be easy and it only starts getting harder from here.”