Disappointing Weekend (Oct. 8-9) for U14 Alameda United Select Boys Soccer Team

October 8-9 was a weekend of “what might’ve beens” and “what could’ve beens” for the U14 Alameda United Select boys soccer team. 

First, a much-anticipated league showdown between #1 Alameda and #2 Montclair on Saturday, Oct. 8 was canceled late, with no time for it to be rescheduled for that week, by poor playing conditions at Merritt College caused by that week’s rain. 

Then, on Sunday, Oct. 9, Alameda United hosted a preliminary State Cup ranking/seeding game against the Evergreen United San Jose Earthquakes at Rittler Park. Alameda was an overly generous host to a very strong opponent. Final score:  Earthquakes 8, Alameda 1. Ouch. 

“We got a taste in this game of how we’ve been making some of our other opponents feel this season,” said Alameda head coach Ben Putterman. “And, in some ways, that’s OK. We want to be playing against strong competition. Maybe it’ll help toughen us up a bit before some other tough games and tournaments we have coming up.” 

The Earthquakes jumped to a 5-1 first-half lead. Some of it was their skill, which was considerable. Some of it was the circumstances. 

“They were big, fast and skilled,” said Putterman. “Their high state ranking is no accident, and they play nationally as well. 

“But they aren’t 5-1 or 8-1 better than us,” Putterman continued. “We helped beat ourselves. We had breakdowns defensively, and started playing kick ball instead of passing. We also had some key injuries and players arriving late, and as a result, we had some important players sitting out and playing out of position during the first half.  But I would still like us to respond better than we did, and we did play better, at times, in the second half.” 

In particular, Coach Putterman praised the second-half play of Markus Gilbert, from the defensive stopper position, and appreciated the efforts of forward Prawat Somwongsa, midfielder Saul Vazquez, and first-half, fill-in goalkeeper Michael Woodworth, who performed admirably under tough circumstances. 

Another highlight for Alameda, which interrupted the Earthquakes’ first-half blitz, was a curving free-kick goal into the upper right corner scored by Cameron Putterman from about 25 yards out. And second-half goalkeeper Ivan Garcia made nearly a dozen saves, some of them spectacular, to slow the Earthquakes’ onslaught. 

Alameda returns to league action Saturday, Oct. 15 against the fifth-place Walnut Creek Blazers at Rittler Park at 10:30 a.m.