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In an attempt to steal the ball, Lucas Carlos ’27 blocks a Dragon’s path. He would prove essential to making breakthroughs through the Round Rock defense lines.
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Heading the ball, Delucca Giannetta ’27 fights for control of the ball right before half time is called. Only after this half time is when the Warriors make a comeback with a four point gain.
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Racing for the ball, Wyatt Powers ’27 gets close to bringing about Warrior control of the ball. Although the Dragon defense would remain strong, the Warriors would be able to pierce through it to score future goals.
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Defending the Warrior goalpost, Shreyan Khanna ’27 pressures the Dragon to give up the ball. The Warriors successfully defend this Dragon effort and are able to move the ball to the midfield.
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Surpassing a Round Rock player, Delucca Giannetta ’27 makes his way to the Round Rock side. As a Central Midfielder, he would prove vital throughout the game, and score a penalty against the Dragons making the score 3-2.
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Pushing the ball toward the Dragon’s side, Josh Jack ’26 helps the Warriors bring another attack pressuring the Dragons as time runs out. The game would eventually end in favor of the Warriors.
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The JV Orange team huddles up right before their match against the Round Rock Dragons.
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Chasing down the ball, Declan O’Hanlon ’27 makes an attempt to get the ball away from the Warrior goal side. O’Hanlon would later go on to score a crucial goal that would bring the Warriors and Dragons at evens.
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Competing in their fourth district game of the season, the boys JV orange soccer team played their fourth district game against the Round Rock Dragons on Friday, Jan., 31, ending the game with another win for the Warrior’s. Eventually winning the game up 4-2 with a clutch comeback in the second half.
“We were really confident. We went into the game thinking we were going to win,” Declan O’Hanlon ‘27 said. “In the second half, we started to get hungry again, and we ended up eating them.”
At the beginning of the game, the Dragons maintained careful control of the ball while the Warriors applied pressure and soon the Dragons slipped and turned over to the ball, but taking advantage of the Warriors’ attempts to score a goal, the Dragons successfully upheld their defense and retook the offensive. However the Warriors’ pressure could not keep up with the Dragons as before the end of the first half, the Dragons put two, unanswered, points on the board after two quick drives after fast turnovers.
“When we played in the first half, they had a new formation that we weren’t really used to,” said O’Hanlon. “When we went down two, it kind of broke us a little bit.”
Although the Warriors were down two, they kept their head in the game and focused on maintaining crossfire with the ball, soon leading to the Warriors’ first penalty kick in the game, which brought the Warriors 1-2 after a successful kick by Nate Gunderson’s ’27. Now within striking distance after observing the formation of the Round Rock players in the first half, the Warriors shifted to counter their observations. With a newfound gameplan, O’Hanlon fired in a second goal. With these back to back goals to tie the game, the Warriors had their victory in sight, they just had to maintain the aggression.
“There was a lot of space behind on the wings, and we abused that in the second half,” Lucas Casco ’27 said. “That’s how we ended up scoring most of our goals.”
Two points weren’t enough meat for the Warriors as penetration through the Dragons’ faltering defense gave the Warriors another penalty kick that put the Warriors in the lead. After putting consistent pressure on the Round Rock Dragons, Forward Shreyan Khanna ’27 helped the ball find its way back into the Round Rock goal to set the Warriors’ lead by double.
“We really figured out how they were playing with having their back line and pushing them up. We really just figured out how fast they were playing, how they wanted to play,” said Khanna. “We really locked down the midfield, forcing them to one side.”
Altogether, the Warriors really fought fiercely against the Dragons, dominating them, despite Round Rock’s strong position in the first half. The Warriors’ determination and endurance gave them the support necessary to surpass the Dragon defenses through the second half.
The Warriors will take on the Vandegrift Vipers on Friday, February 7, in the Warrior Bowl at 5:45 pm.
