Irvine, CA — Up to this point, I have written these game recaps in an attempt to mimic a newspaper article. I am going to try a different spin with this and be a little more personal. This was our first away game, first day game, and first back to back game. We traveled the short distance across town to Beckman's home field for this game for bragging rights. The Patriots were coming into the game 0-3, having been outscored 1-11, but they were hungry and that motivation showed. Beckman's field is 20 years shorter than Foothill's with another 5 yards of width on both sides. It really felt short and more importantly, the field played against our primary strength of speed. We were coming off 3 relatively easy wins (4 if you count the scrimmage against Orange) and perhaps with a bit more confidence than we should have. All of these factors played into the eventual 0-1 loss. The game was physical and hard fought. The first half was scoreless but with Foothill having the more dangerous opportunities and the lion's share of possession. However, 4 minutes into the second half, Beckman countered on the left hand side of the field and was able to capitalize on the breakaway. From that point on, Beckman was able to drop 5 into the back line and pack 4 into the midfield. Their single attacking option was barely used and often dropped in to clog the middle and complicate our attack. We still finished with an estimated 65-70% of possession but just could not combine to score. It was not for a lack of trying, of possession, or even of dangerous chances for our boys that we didn't take any points away from the contest. Mitch Sampson, Tyler Valdez, and Joey Benítez all hit the woodwork but the ball just wouldn't go in the back of the net for us. Soccer is a cruel game that will rip your heart out. I hate losing but I have contended for a long time that you learn more from a loss than you do from a win. I hope that we can learn from this loss and regroup for our game against Tustin on Monday.