A shutout, a clean sheet and an impressive performance.
Los Gatos High boys soccer coach Joel Fumia couldn’t have asked for anything more after the Wildcats’ 2-0 win over Milpitas High on Jan. 5. The victory came just two days after Los Gatos edged Monta Vista 3-2 in its Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division opener.
What Fumia liked most about the Wildcats’ effort vs. Milpitas was their play defensively, noting a marked improvement from the Monta Vista game. Center backs Jack Fleisher and Sam Pearman along with goalkeeper Leon Sarashki were instrumental to the team’s defensive performance.
“I just think we were better structured overall, very strong in the back and everything was much better defensively,” Fumia said. “We changed kind of how we played our formation a little bit, made some minor tweaks and I think it helped. The guys stepped up to the challenge and played really well against a really good Milpitas team. I’m excited for the guys moving forward.”
Max Lees, a dynamic sophomore, scored both goals, the first off an assist from Mike Vick and the second from Flavio Barney-Santiago. In both instances, Los Gatos got out in the open field, with Vick and Barney-Santiago beating their defenders 1-on-1.
In the 17th minute, Vick pushed the ball upfield 30 yards down the right flank before delivering a perfect cross to the far corner to an onrushing Lees, who volleyed the ball in for a 1-0 lead. Los Gatos scored its second goal in first half stoppage time.
Once again, the Wildcats strung together a couple of passes to the attacking third where Barney-Santiago split two defenders 10 yards outside the top of the 18-yard box before making a perfect pass to Lees, who was sprinting to the goal down the left side.
As he’s done all season, Lees displayed a nose for the goal, outmaneuvering a couple of Milpitas players to free himself for a clean look before depositing a shot the goalkeeper had no opportunity to stop.
“In the open space, Flavio, Mike Vick and Max, they can all move,” Fumia said. “They can create some stuff on their own with their individual talent. If we can play that kind of formula, I think we can be a pretty tough opponent for teams. But it’s one game and we have to keep getting better and move forward because the league is tougher than it’s ever been.”
Los Gatos improved to 5-2-1 overall and 2-0-0 in league, and next faces Wilcox High—which entered the week 3-0-0 in league—on Jan. 12, a match that will likely have league championship ramifications should the teams stay atop the standings at season’s end.
Fumia was proud of the team for responding well to playing its first two league games in rapid-fire succession.
“It’s tough to play two games in three nights so you need depth and you have to be able to use your bench,” he said. “Now that we pretty much have everyone back, we have a lot of depth. We have a lot of talent this year, and frankly we have more talent than last year just in terms of soccer players. So that helps a lot because now you have options. Everyone is on the team for a reason. We have a lot of guys on the team that can contribute, which is something I’m excited about.”
Outside of the players already mentioned, a sampling of the talent on this year’s team include Shlok Shrivastava, Atsuya Kashima, Will Enneking, James Niemeyer, Pele Arroyo, Caelin Goudy, Omer Rabin, Dominic Zisa, Jovian Hayden and starting goalkeeper Zed Fallside.
Sarashki was making his first start of the season vs. Milpitas, a reward for practicing well and maintaining focus.
“Leon has been training really well and we wanted to give him an opportunity,” Fumia said. “He earned it and played well. Zed was the starter last year and Zed has been really good. It’s nice we have two really good keepers.”
Los Gatos was particularly dominant in the first half against Milpitas, creating the majority of the shots aided by heavy possession time. Shrivastava and Kashima helped facilitate the possession by being strong on the ball and distributing it well.
However, the Trojans came out of the intermission a different team, dominating the possession as Los Gatos scrambled just to get the ball on its feet. Fifteen minutes had gone by before the Wildcats got to the attacking third.
Milpitas had a couple of nice shots in that span but couldn’t convert, and that proved to be its downfall as Los Gatos took control the rest of the way. The Wildcats had a couple of golden scoring chances in the final 10 minutes, and Lees came close to getting a third goal but sprayed a couple of shots just wide of the post.
All in all, an improved performance from the league opener and accumulating the maximum six points after two matches has Los Gatos on the right path.
“I’m happy about the team being better [vs. Milpitas] than we were [vs. Monta Vista],” Fumia said. “I’m happy about the progress, but now they have to put the work in and keep moving forward to reach our goals.”
