San Dieguito Academy boys soccer took on La Costa Canyon High School during one of the most important nights of the season, senior night.

Friends and family filled the bleachers to support the team and all of the players who would be graduating. The night kicked off with a special ceremony to honor the seniors. Each senior was recognized on the field with their family by their side as the announcer shared some of their favorite memories and take-always from playing soccer at SDA.

After the ceremony concluded, LCC took kick off to begin the game. The game set forth at steady pace with both teams constantly switching between possession of the ball. Eleven minutes into the game a quick shift in the speed of play occurred when an LCC player sprinted up the field and sent an accurate pass into the box where a hard shot was deflected off the keeper’s foot and sent into the corner of the net.

The momentum of the game only increased after the goal, as SDA was determined to score. Several speedy breakaways by senior Jonathan Sabouri got SDA close to a goal but the LCC keeper dived and saved the shots. By halftime the score of the game was 0-1.

To begin the second half, SDA took kick off, taking the ball up the field. SDA came out strong and only five minutes into the second half an incredible cross by junior Noah Bussell was finished by Sabouri putting the Mustangs back in the game.

LCC responded aggressively and in the same minute took the lead once again after shooting the ball into the net off of a corner kick. LCC continued the momentum of their attack and took multiple big shots from outside the 18 yard box that were saved by keeper David Schlesinger, junior. Unfortunately, during the 63rd minute of the game, LCC scored their final goal off of another corner kick. SDA did not back down and played hard throughout the last minute of the game. The final score of the game remained 1-3.

It was a tough game but the SDA boys put up a hard fight. “We played really well as a team and we created chances and got a goal. It wasn’t a bad performance just really unlucky,” Sabouri said.

Head Coach Keith Whitmer agreed that the boys put out a good performance, not just this game but throughout the season. “I can’t question the character of this team,” he said. “It’s a lot of little things that just kind of got of got us in certain situations. Like two set pieces got us two goals. That’s a tough one to swallow because they played well enough to win. We just got to fight through these moments and at the end of the day they played their guts out.”