Sunny Hills’ Matthias Brown (left) and La Habra’s Jeremiah Solares joust for the ball. (Photos OC Sports Zone, courtesy Jim McCormack).
Sunny Hills boys soccer coach Mike Schade just chuckled Wednesday when asked if his halftime speech belonged in the Knute Rockne Hall of Fame.
“It’s what had to be said,” Schade summarized after his team rallied from a one goal deficit to edge visiting La Habra 2-1 in the Freeway League opener for both teams.
The message: “Defense first and always,” Schade said. “When you’re defending, you create more opportunities to score.”
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Perhaps most significantly, Schade’s team listened.
The pressure did create more opportunities and Matthias Brown’s goal in the 53rd minute neutralized a goal by La Habra’s talented Tyler Porter (36th minute of the first half).
The Lancers got the game-winner in the 65th minute from Michael Franco, one of two midfielders Schade applauded for leading the defense in the second half. Jerry Mejia was the other midfielder mentioned by Schade.
Although it was the first match of the league season, it had the feeling of a rivalry game although with every school in the league less than eight miles apart, every game is a rivalry game.
With the win, Sunny Hills improved to 5-2-4, 1-0 in league. La Habra is 3-10-2, 0-1 after playing a challenging non-league schedule.
Although Schade spoke of history matter-of-factly, Sunny Hills is on a mission this season. The Lancers had an off year in the COVID disrupted 2021 season and missed the CIF playoffs for the first time in 20 years. One of the team goals in 2022, is to start a new streak.
—Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone
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