While the final score of 0-0 meant the game went into the books as a tie, Paetow looked impressive and dominated possession for much of the match against Class 6A Morton Ranch in both teams’ season openers on Friday, Jan. 3.

The Panthers had several opportunities to score and controlled the ball for most of both halves. Their two best opportunities were a shot from junior Adam Cerna that sailed just over the net in the 33rd minute and a breakaway by junior Alex Zamora Campbell in the game’s final 45 seconds that was swallowed up by Maverick defenders.

Defensively, senior goalkeeper Omar Rangel had to make a run to just about the edge of the box to stop a shot attempt in the game’s 78th minute. The save preserved the tie.

“I saw that they were building up an attack, and we were holding it off, but they were able to take a shot and I was there to make the save,” Rangel said of what he saw from the back line.

Rangel said he’s gaining that knowledge about when to sprint out and when not to in his second year as the starting varsity goalkeeper.

“The main thing with goalie is not so much the diving and the saving, but it’s the positioning,” he said. “It’s my last year here, so I want to do big stuff here with this team. With me last year as a new goalie, I did pretty well and got second place for individual awards, and this year I want to get first.”

Seniors Kevin Vasquez and Jose Toro, and junior David Montelongo—all three captains—identified a district championship and a state title game appearance as goals the team has set this year.

“A team goal is motivate each other to do the best we can in practice, and hopefully that translates over to the game,” Montelongo said. “All of us are on the same page that we want to go to the state finals. That’s our goal. We want to win district, but our main goal is to make the state finals.”

However, to achieve that goal, Paetow coach Vincenzo Vaccaro said their conditioning would have to improve. While the Panthers dominated possession in the first half, their control deteriorated as the game wore on, and Vaccaro said he had to substitute more often as a result.

“I felt like we controlled early and did what we wanted to do, what we were practiced, but it kind of fell apart as their conditioning went downhill,” he said. “They were tired, and it’s not just about losing their legs. They lose their minds, and it gets harder to think about what we want to do.”

Vaccaro noted that he did try out some players at new positions—switching some of his forwards to midfield roles—to shore up possessions and the Paetow defense. It worked in a sense, as the Panthers didn’t allow a goal, but he said they had hoped to slip at least one or two shots past the Morton Ranch keeper.

The frequent substitutions and different positions led to inconsistency on offense. While Paetow did control the possession battle, it didn’t translate to strong shots on goal. Vaccaro said it would be on the guys to improve their conditioning, to lead to more playing time and consistent attacks.

“I was moving dudes in and out, and that’s the struggle at this point,” he said. “We’re going to continue to work on being the dominant team at first touch and getting a little more gas in our tank.”