After an impressive start to the season, boys’ varsity soccer (7-3 overall, 1-1 league) lost 2-0 to Carlmont High School on Friday, Jan. 12. The loss was an unfortunate blow to the Panthers’ Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay championship aspirations. The effects of the game could extend into the postseason, as each league faceoff is a crucial opportunity for Burlingame to move toward guaranteeing a Central Coast Section (CCS) bid. But things did not go the Panthers’ way, which will increase pressure on the team to achieve their goals with the postseason drawing closer.
Carlmont came out of the gate early with a goal in the first five minutes of the game, and added on another late in the first half. Despite hopes for a potential comeback, the Scots’ defense proved too much, as the Panthers recorded less than five shots on goal, and the score didn’t change throughout the second half.
“It’s not the result you want, but we put everything on the line,” sophomore Dylan Rossen said. “We’ll see [Carlmont] again at our place, so we will hopefully get a different result.”
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Boys’ soccer has a team talk prior to their league match against Carlmont on Jan. 12.
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Junior Matthew Wade winds up for a long pass during the first half of the Panthers game against Carlmont on Jan. 12.
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The loss dropped the Panthers to fourth place in the league standings, behind Aragon, Carlmont and Menlo-Atherton — squads that have been impressive during the first few months of the season.
But every game is competitive in this season’s PAL Bay League, which is at one of its strongest, and deepest, points in years. In fact, five of its six teams currently have a win percentage at or over 0.500.
The Panthers’ above-average league competition will require them to finish out the season strong, as usually, only 3-4 teams from the league make it to the CCS playoffs, meaning the Panthers are currently on the bubble of a playoff berth. Their fate will depend on the next 5-6 games, as all of them are important league clashes that will be the deciding factor in who makes the trip to the CCS playoffs, and whose season ends prematurely.
The Panthers are aware of the challenge ahead of them as they fight for a postseason bid, and remain committed to pursuing a potential CCS championship.
“We just need to bounce back from this tough loss,” Rossen said. “We have to keep our heads up, there are plenty of games to go.”
