Thursday night's game against arch-rival Eastern didn't fare as well. From the beginning, it seemed we weren't able to get that last touch on the ball to pose threatening shots. Eastern out-worked, out-hustled, and seemingly out-wanted the victory. And they got it. They scored midway through the second half, forcing CAL to commit additional troops up top. "At that point, it didn't matter if we lost by 1, or if we lost by multiple goals; we needed chances." Eastern took advantage of the situation with just 5 minutes to spare, netting a second goal and clinching a painful loss for a CAL squad that had gone undefeated in districts last year. "There was no doubt in our minds," grimaced Coach Lucas. "We could have and should have achieved victory in that game. Something wasn't there."

On Aug. 25th, CAL's Men's varsity soccer tackled long-time soccer dynasty, Ballard High School. Having earned something like nine state championships, we knew Ballard wasn't about to give up a fight easily. Our suspicions proved true as they moved the ball well, (much better than last year) defended without rest, and constantly put our keeper to the test. An early goal by Connor English helped boost our confidence though. J.D. Hawkins slipped a pass through to Connor, who holds several school sprint records. He outpaced everyone, even though it was his first start back from a strained hip flexor. [Click "Read More!" to read the rest of this article]