Scots' new attitude has made difference in the win column
| Thursday, Feb 12 2009 01:35 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:27 PM
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The Highland boys soccer team has had more than a respectable season -- they're still in the mix for a chance at the league championship.
Coach Vince Gonzalez has the Highland Scots boys soccer team, which won just one game last year, alive for a shot at this season's SEYL title.
Highland boys soccer goalie Carlos Rodriguez makes a save during practice Wednesday. Highland has a chance for the SEYL title after winning just one game last year.
It figures that Highland's boys soccer team would complete its turnaround with an overtime.
After all, it was in so many overtimes a year ago that the Scots stumbled, losing faith in themselves and scuffling to a 1-10-1 league record.
But when the Scots' Carlos Placencia hammered home a goal to edge Bakersfield High 2-1 in a league showdown Jan. 22 of this year, it reversed those demons and completed a stark turnaround for Highland -- from bottom-feeder to bona fide league title contender.
"League was really our main goal," Gonzalez said. "But now that's it's here, it's really like, 'Hey, we can do this.' That's a big change."
When the Scots take the field for their senior night tonight against Southeast Yosemite League favorite Golden Valley, the league title -- and valuable Division III playoff seeding -- will hang in the balance.
If Highland wins and gets some help from Liberty, which hosts Bakersfield at the same time, the Scots will complete their worst-to-first story. A loss or tie, and it'll be Golden Valley's again. BHS can also win the title with help from Highland.
"It's going to be one of the biggest and most important games for the boys soccer team here at Highland," said outspoken goalkeeper Carlos Rodriguez, who has pitched 11 shutouts. "We can fight for a league championship."
But no matter what happens, Highland can be proud of changing its culture. Last year, players say, chemistry and camaraderie were at all-time lows, and so on-field communication and performance suffered. That manifested itself in overtime losses to East, Foothill and Liberty during a league season in which the Scots were outscored by less than two goals a game but won just once.
"The big difference between this year's team and last year's team is we didn't bond as well as this year's team did," senior Matt Allinghamsaid. "This year's team really seems to care about whether we win or lose."
Gonzalez, who's in his second year as head coach, says he noticed a difference in the team's chemistry immediately this year, but still he was worried when Highland lost its third league game, 2-1 to Foothill -- in overtime.
"Last year, overtime killed us," Gonzalez said. "Then our first game we go into overtime, we lost, and the first thing in my mind is, 'Here we go again.' The overtime curse."
Since then, though, the Scots have played three overtimes and survived two for ties. Then there was Plancencia's goal to beat BHS.
"Since that win, we knew we had everything we needed to take Valley and league," senior Amilcar Hernandez said. "That was our game, our turning point right there."
Highland then knocked off East and Liberty 1-0 (the Scots have allowed just 19 goals in 25 games) and got a Liberty victory over Golden Valley to set up a scenario that seemed so unlikely a year back.
The team's 16 seniors -- who first made their mark as a rag-tag bunch of sophomores on JV nearly upset the varsity team in a scrimmage two years ago -- will celebrate their careers at their final regular-season home match, then play for a league title.
"It's totally different from last year, and I'm very proud of them," Gonzalez said. "They've worked hard, and they have so much talent, it's just a matter of putting them in the right spot and watching it happened."
