Before Tuesday night’s match versus Miramonte, the Acalanes boys soccer team and fans celebrated their five senior players:  Jake Boselli, Lucas Dissman, Lucian Krage Zillas, Colin Sohn, and Evan Sverak.  Emotions ran high as the Dons took the pitch for a spirited performance.  The home team had several scoring opportunities early in the match but the scoreboard still showed zeros with only 15 minutes left in the first half when Boselli sent a booming goal kick deep down the field.  The Miramonte defender’s header popped the ball straight up, allowing Niko White to gently head it forward to himself then he took off dribbling through the defense, juked the oncoming goalkeeper, and found the back of the net to put the Dons up 1-0. The Mats were able to tie the score a few minutes later off a penalty kick to deadlock the match at halftime.

The second half got off to a rocky start when the Mats’ striker got loose on the right side and drilled a shot into the far left side of the net to put the Dons in a 2-1 hole just two minutes into the half.  From that point on, the Dons dominated possession of the ball and relentlessly attacked the Miramonte goal.  However, scoring attempts kept pinballing off the mass of Miramonte defenders clustered around the goal, and the Mats goalkeeper scampered all over the field snatching or booting loose balls just before the Dons could reach them. Despite countless opportunities, Acalanes was still looking at a 2-1 deficit with only a few minutes left.  Just as they did at Campo last Thursday, the Dons again showed grit and determination in hopes of evening the match.  They continued to dominate possession with slick passing and repeatedly sent the ball at the Mats net.  Much to the delight of the home crowd, the Dons finally pulled even with only 4 minutes left when Colin Sohn lofted a perfect corner kick from the right side and Colby Ebner knocked it in for the tying score.  The crowd was buzzing as the Dons continued their relentless attack in the final few minutes in an attempt to pull out a victory but the final whistle blew before the boys in blue could reach the back of the net again.  

With only one loss in their last 11 matches, Acalanes’ record now stands at 7-3-5.  The Dons play their final regular season home match this Thursday, February 2nd against Ygnacio Valley at 7pm then hit the road next week for their final two league matches against Northgate and Mt. Diablo.