DHS Boys Soccer: Rams Tie Benicia 0-0

Scoring chances don’t match the hype of notching points.

Despite a handful of shots at the net in the first half by the boys soccer team, the Rams would end up tying Benicia 0-0 Thursday night at Finney Field.

“I think we lost concentration,” Dixon coach Jesus Mata said. “We realized that we were in complete domination. We had control of the game.”

The Rams controlled possession for most of the first half, and recorded three direct shots on goal.

Christian Carrillo’s shot at the net from about 20 feet out was saved, and Jesus Rodriguez' shot from the right corner of the Benicia zone was also saved. Alex Figueroa blasted a shot at the net in the 34th minute, but his shot missed the post by inches, going just right.

Dixon goalie Jose Romero came up with a pair of great saves in the first half. After Benicia’s Joe Sarchett sent a shot that bounced off the crossbar, Sarchett took a rebound and blasted another shot on goal, but Romero stopped it. The deflection off of Romero’s hands ended up at Panther midfielder’s Jared Thieme’s feet, but he couldn’t get a short blast past Romero either.

“I definitely think he came up big in the first half with those saves,” said Mata of Romero. “They were clearly the only opportunities they had on goal in the first half.”

Mata believed his squad got ahead of themselves after the first half.

“I think we just got confident and sometimes confidence kills,” Mata said. “It’s good thing to have a certain degree of confidence but not too overly confident to where you lose concentration and just get away from the game and what you need to do as a team.”

Figueroa echoed the words of his coach.

“I think we played fairly well,” the Rams’ captain said. “Just finishing wasn’t there. Finishing though is critical. That’s the point of the game is getting in the back of the net. If you don’t get them in the back in the net, you don’t win.”

Mata thinks his team needs to stay focused if it wants to start winning.

“A little more communication could help and keeping it simple,” he said. “I think we complicate the game sometimes for ourselves. It’s a simple game and beautiful at the same time but as long as you keep it simple and we don’t get away from our game, we should be fine.”

Dixon plays at Woodland next Tuesday at 4 p.m.

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