After a 0-3 start to the league season, the Santa Clara Bruins varsity boys’ soccer squad has seemingly awoken from hibernation. A 3-1 win on Feb. 3 over rival Wilcox extended the team’s undefeated stretch to four games (2-0-2). 

The usual suspects were at it again on the scoresheet for the Bruins. Star sophomore Ali Chalaknia opened the scoring just three minutes into the match when he rocketed a tough-angle shot up under the bar after breaking free through the right side of the box. Chalaknia would add an insurance marker to put the game away in the 68th minute, but the highlight of the night was the game-winning goal in the 51st minute from Ahmad Ayadi. 

With the score tied 1-1 and the flow of play becoming a bit choppy from both teams, Ayadi singlehandedly put the momentum back on the Santa Clara side with a picture-perfect shot. From about 19-yards out, Ayadi fired a shot from only a few yards in from the far right side of the 18-yard box. Ayadi used his left foot to bend a rocket of a shot off the far post as it was curling back towards the goal. The ball slammed off the post about four feet off the ground and then into the back of the net. 

“Ahmad is a talent,” grinned Bruins’ goalkeeper Quincy Chun. “I play with him on club too; every time I play with him, it’s amazing. I love his style, it’s nothing new. He did it last year for CCS; he got us to qualify with an absolute screamer from way out. It’s one of those things that you just expect it from him now.”

“At practice it’s just amazing to watch,” chuckled center back Eduardo Estrada. “That left foot is something you always have to watch out for, or he is gonna punish you.” 

The Bruins are finding their stride and starting to punish opponents with regularity, but they’ll have their hands full down the stretch with games against first-place Mountain View and second-place Los Altos among their final four contests. 

On the flip side, Wilcox will look to bounce back down the stretch, but will go up against an even tougher gauntlet in the team’s final four games. The Chargers play each of the top four teams in the standings, facing Homestead and Los Gatos in addition to Los Altos and Mountain View. 

Against Santa Clara, though, the Chargers held tough and came up with clutch plays to keep the game within striking distance. Riku Lllewellyn was a strong force all game long on the Chargers’ back line, including the denial of a fast-break counterattack where he stymied Santa Clara’s best offensive players. Furthermore, goalkeeper Charlie Morales kept the deficit at just a single goal with a brilliant toe save on a shot from just six yards in front of him. That allowed the Chargers the ability to find the equalizer just before halftime. Captain Pranav Sajith and Jhoan Gallego Escobar teamed up for a great look at goal that was denied by a defender, but then the duo got possession back and found the back of the net less than 20 seconds later. 

“We have been playing together for the last two years and are used to playing together,” remarked Escobar with the help of teammate and interpreter Luis Garcia. “That’s where the chemistry comes from; we worked together on two goals against Saratoga earlier in the season, too.”

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