Game Recaps

Orinda Academy: 3 v. Athenian School (JV): 1  -  10.17.08

 
Orinda Academy won their second consecutive game defeating the Athenian School by a score of 3-1.  It was a great team effort and, I believe, their best and most consistent effort of the year.  Julia Friedman scored to give us a 1-0 lead for the second conecutive game and after Athenian tied the score, Dylan Goldman gave us a 2-1 lead with his third goal of the season.  Both our goals were scored off of beautiful passes by Chris Scott.  In the 2nd half, Ben chose to put a couple of his best offensive players back on the defense, a decision that often ends up with us playing mostly in our zone.  This time, our offense stepped it up putting good pressure on our opponents, with Steven Wang leading the way and eventually setting up an insurance goal on a great effort by Lino Sanchez-Siegel.  Meanwhile our defensive strategy worked beautifully with Dylan and Chris helping David Treas defend, but it was some great goalie work by Brandon Davis and some excellent slide tackles by Austin Roberts that really sealed the victory.  Again, everyone contributed and it was a great team victory.  I hope to see you all at our last game of the season on Tuesday, October 21st at Bentley.    

Mitch

Orinda Academy: 8 v. El Sobrante Christian: 1 - 10.14.08

Orinda Academy earned their first win of the year last Tuesday, October 14th.  A great gift for our team also doubled as a wonderful birthday present for one of our co-captains, Dylan Goldman.  OA dominated the game and El Sobrante Christian High School by a score of  8-1. Personally, it felt pretty great to be on the right side of this decision. It was also a record-setting game for Orinda.  In our 26 year history, no soccer squad had ever scored 8 as a team or won by a margin of 7.  That Steven Wang played very strong for the second consecutive game is truly an understatement because Steven scored a school record 4 goals against El Sobrante.  For soccer fanatics, this is known as a Sombrero and ties Steven Wang with Chris Scott for the team lead with 4 goals a piece. Orinda Academy's victory was highlighted by crisp ball movement and dribbling skills, particularly by Chris Scott who scored 2 goals, and the always diligent hustle from the growing legend of the beard, Dylan Goldman, who put in one goal giving him two for the season.  To round out our goal scoring, one of our Lady Eagles Julia Friedman put in her first goal of the season and gave us a 1-0 lead.  Orinda Academy played very well and without a sub for the entire game; just to compete under these circumstances would have been satisfying, but to dominate was a pure joy.

B. Davis

Orinda Academy v. Athenian (JV) - 10.06.2008

Our Orinda Academy Eagles played very well against the Athenian Junior Varsity Team but once again the Eagles fell. As always there are bright spots like our persistent hustle. As an Orinda Academy athlete I can say that one reason I'm proud to play is because the hustle is always there no matter how ugly it can get and trust me a few times it has gotten ugly. For instance Norman Steele played some of his best defense of the entire year, when he got beat he dug deep and recovered always. Steele played very aggressively and never failed to clear the ball and he was one of the key components allowing our team to stay competitive in the game. Another fine moment for Orinda was the dominant play of Steven Wang. Steven controlled the ball and the game getting several good shots off and putting us in great position to score. Sometimes what you have just isn't enough and this was the case as the final score was 3-0 Athenian (JV). Check out the photo gallery.  The Orinda Academy Soccer Team looks forward to closing out their season strong with three games left, the next one on October 14th against El Sobrante Christian.  Please come support the team!

Brandon Davis