Joseph Solimon ('13) looks to brings the ball down with an Oiler on his back.

With the academic semester drawing to a close on Friday, the Barons’ boys varsity soccer team took on the Huntington Beach Oilers last Friday, the 27th. The Barons were looking to put away the last place Oilers and keep their record pristine in the second half of season. The boys scored early in both halves and came away with a 2-0 victory to give the Barons momentum going into Edison next week.

With the cushion of the goal the Barons were more free to play their game and the Oilers known for their tenacity, were somewhat depleted in energy. Although the game proved to be a tough defensive battle all over the pitch, the Baron midfield and defense held strong and allowed no shots on goal during the first half.

Ethan Morrow ('12) stretches out to make a tackle against an Oiler defender.

Going into the second half still at 1-0 the Barons were much closer than they would like to be, “this team will not go away until you really put them under, we have to distance ourselves or else they stick around,” commented Smith at halftime. The Barons were able to achieve that goal early on in the half. After some offensive pressure by the Barons forced a corner kick, the cross from the set piece bobbled out to the top of the box. Garret Stiffler-Greasby (’13) pounced on the ball with a one-time shot that ricocheted off an Oiler defender and fooled the goalie who was diving the other way, as the ball bounced into the net.

With another early goal within the first 5 minutes of the half the Barons were again in a position to finish out the half with a small cushion, which had grown even larger. The game stayed more evenly played the rest of the half. Both sides saw chances but none were very threatening on either side. In the last 5 minutes the Barons withstood a more aggressive Oiler attack, but after some strong clearances and poor composure on HB’s part the Barons came away with a strong 2-0 victory.

Other results in Sunset did not help the Barons much, Marina made up for their stunning loss to HB last week with a 1-0 victory over Los Alamitos, and Edison is trying to make a last ditch effort to salvage their season beating Newport Harbour 2-1.

The Barons still sit atop the Sunset league, with the two lowest teams out of the way for the Barons, its all business now. With a remaining schedule of Edison away, Marina home, and Los Al away, the Barons will play 3 desperate and very competitive teams all looking to knock off FV. The road won’t be easy, but it never is for a Sunset League team.

The Barons next game is Wednesday the 1st at Edison, a true test for the Barons.

Wade Sias ('12) stands up a Sailor attack.

After a disappointing loss to Marina, the Barons had a lot to prove this week. The boys varsity soccer team played a very strong third week of the Sunset League with victories over Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor.

The Barons played a pivotal game against Los Alamitos Wednesday. The Griffins were tied for first and the Barons found themselves alone in 3rd trailing by one win. The Barons overtook the Griffins in the Sunset league and won 3-0.

Coach Jason Smith commented on the match-up before the game “We always match well against Los Al, their coach knows it too.”

Smith’s words rang true as the Barons pulled a decisive 3-0 victory over a tough Los Al opponent. The Barons started off the game in a mostly defensive posture. Los Al tested the Baron defense with its quick and skillful attack early on in the game, but the boys held strong through a few dangerous moments.

Halfway through the first half Eric Shearer (’12) scored off a thrown in from Kenji Louer (’13). The goal gave the Barons a huge load of confidence and they started to take the upper hand of possession the rest of the half.

Joey Aquino ('13) breaks away from a Griffin defender.

Some defensive adjustments at the start of the second half put leading goal scorer Ethan Morrow on defense for the rest of the game. The tactical move played out well, and the Baron defense continued to shut out the Griffins for the entire game.

The two goals in the second half for the Barons were both scored by Joseph Solimon (’13) off very similar plays. In the 50’ and later in the 70’ minute Solimon picked the Griffin right back of the ball and dribbled in from the side of the box all alone to score. The goals put the Barons well ahead and allowed the boys to cruise to a comfortable 3-0 victory. Hard work out of the back and hard work up top won the game for the Barons.

“It’s not how you start this league, its how you finish” commented Smith on the first half of the season in which the Barons went 4-1-0 and held first place for a majority of the time.

The boys will be happy with the first half of season, but there is still a long road ahead; beginning with an important match-up with Newport Harbor that came on Friday.

On Friday, the Barons played a different looking Sailor team which had returned a star player who had not played in the previous two games between the two sides. The Barons struggled a bit in the first half against the Sailors. Possession was mostly dominated by Newport and the Barons were losing battles all over the field. The Barons were also missing play-maker Isaac Garcia (’15) and the offense had trouble moving the ball between them early on. The first half saw some chances for both sides but both teams were kept quiet and the game continued on tied at zeroes.

Garret Stiffler ('13) moves the ball forward for a Baron attack.

In the second half the Barons came out much stronger and were rejuvenated. The midfield was dominated by Garret Stiffler-Greasby (’13) and the Baron defense shut down the Newport attack for the early portion of the second half. The Baron offense came alive and created some chances but to no success. The long throw in of Aran Reeve (’12) was a continuous threat for the Barons and created chaos in the Newport box on many occasions.

Toward the end of the scoreless half both teams became desperate for a game winner and traded chances. The Sailors got behind the Baron defense later in the half and were pushed just wide enough on the angle by a diving Ryan Brown (’13) to miss wide. The Barons saw their own chances including one in the final minute of the game that was skied over the goal from just outside the six yard box. And so the game went into over time.

The first bout of extra time was even matched and the ball sea-sawed back and fourth between the teams. The two teams did not see much in the way of scoring chances.

In the second over time, the Barons put up a little more offensive pressure, most of it coming from long throws and ensuing corners. On one of those long-throws mid way through the frame the Barons battled inside the Sailor box and Solimon found the ball and brought it to the touchline on the side of the goal and passed it across the goal mouth to a wide open Wade Sias (’12) who easily tapped in his 5th of the year for the game winner. The Barons were electric after the goal and held the Sailors water-tight to win the game in double OT 1-0.

News would come later in the day that Marina lost to 0-5 Huntington Beach, which placed the Barons back atop the Sunset League poised for a possible Sunset League Championship. The Barons have destiny in their hands and can place first in league with a spotless record in the second half of season. But as coach Smith drills into his players heads, “There is no easy game in the Sunset League” the boys have a lot on their plate in the upcoming weeks. Fortunately the Barons get the addition of Oscar Garcia (’13) to the team in the new semester, he will add a much appreciated spark and depth to the offense.

Ethan Morrow takes on the Marina Vikings defense.

After a strong 1-0 performance over Edison on Wednesday, the Barons fell victim to a lack of urgency and an organized Marina opponent with a 1-2 score. This was the second time the Barons had lost to the Vikings, and their coveted 1st place status in Sunset was degraded on Friday as was their unbeaten record in league play now at 3-1-0.

The Barons started off very well against the Vikings. The energy was high and in the first five minutes Wade Sias (’12) rocketed one from an outside angle inside the box, to the opposite side of the goal giving the Barons an early lead. After the early goal the Barons looked a little complacent, passes were not connecting and the defense seemed to be lackadaisical at times. The Barons were playing in an aggressive 3 forward formation, but throughout the game there was an inability to play the ball through to the top heavy offense. Only 10 minutes after the first goal Marina struck and tied the game 1-1. The Barons looked deflated after allowing the Vikings to tie up the game. The rest of the half saw a more defensive posture from the Barons and nothing was able to be created up top sending the game into the 2nd half all tied at 1-1.

Isaac Garcia races the Marina defense to the ball.

In the second half, the Barons once again switched to three forwards and tried to put some pressure on the Vikings. Early success brought some dangerous chances for the Barons in the beginning of the half, but to know avail. The majority of the half after, was contended closely, but without the Barons threatening a goal. With less than 15 minutes left in the game the Barons allowed a fatal second goal to Marina, off a long throw in play. Down 1-2 the Barons seemed to awaken and the rest of the half saw a desperate Baron team fight to win the game. Although the boys had the ball most of the rest of the way through they were unable to convert and Marina truly held out the Baron attack to finish a strong game. The final score a disappointing 1-2 for the Barons.

The season is nearing the half way mark and the Sunset League became very interesting after Friday’s games. Marina sits tied for first with Los Al; Edison is tied for fourth with Newport, and all alone is Fountain Valley third in the league. Next week though another shift in the league could occur. Fountain Valley could easily be back on top with a victory over Los Al and a Marina loss to Edison who will be looking to claw back in the standings. Coach Smith stressed the season was in no way over, “you can have one slip up each half of the season, but other than that it has to really be perfect.”

The Barons have had a great year thus far, but in High School soccer its your last game that counts not the last 15 or so, the biggest game of the season for the Barons is next Wednesday at home against a strong Los Al opponent.

Mathew Ellis overpowers an Oiler.

“Guts, grit, and determination,” that’s how Barons boys Varsity Soccer coach Jason Smith described the Barons 2nd straight league win of the season, against Huntington Beach, which put them atop Sunset league after the first week of play.

The Barons opened up the season at Newport Harbor High School under the stadium lights. A team they had already faced and beaten in the Marina tournament, the Barons knew what to expect and were confident coming into the game. From the start the Barons controlled the play of the game and had early attempts at goal. The first half saw many chances from the Barons, but they were unable to convert and the game stayed 0-0 into the 2nd half.

In the 2nd Newport Harbor came out stronger and tested the Barons with some early shots, yet the Baron defense held strong. Solid play through the middle and the back kept the pressure on from the Sailors; the rest of the game and after relentless chances the Barons finally converted in the final 10 minutes of the game off a battle in the box, with Eric Shearer (’12) finally putting the ball in the goal. The Barons then frantically battled in the back to seal the game. After some frightfully close calls in the final minutes of the game the Barons were relieved to have their first win of season. The Barons made the game closer than it could have been but in the end they came away with the 3 points by winning an important first game in the league.

On Friday the 6th, the Barons took on the Huntington Beach Oilers once again under the lights away from home. The Barons were forced to play the most intense game of the year and were caught off guard by the frantic passion and sporadic nature of the Oilers from the very start of the game. The Barons were rattled and it only took 15 minutes for the Oilers to score the first goal of the game after a ball bounced through the barons and was put away in the box.

The rest of the first half the Barons battled back and after pressure on the HB defense, the Oilers gave up a foul right outside the box. Ethan Morrow (’12) stepped up to the dead ball and rifled a shot that bounced off of an Oiler and fooled the goalie, and tied the game for the Barons. When the second half came around the Barons knew their opponent and matched the heart and intensity of the play. The story of the second half was the referee unfortunately. The center man gave out a total of 5 yellow cards two of them to Barons, Morrow and Garrett Stiffler-Greasby (’13), coach Jason Smith was not far from his own yellow card as well. The Barons were seemingly fighting against two teams the second half and could not overcome the stop and go play calling of the ref and the passionate Oilers to score a game winner.

The game went into a two 10 minute halves of over time, with the game tied at 1-1. Huntington Beach once again shocked the Barons and scored very early on after the OT kickoff. The sudden lead though gave the Oilers an overconfident feeling and the kickoff after the goal Joseph Solimon (’13) almost single-handedly dribbled the entire Oilers team and rocketed the ball into the goal off a near post shot to tie it 2-2 in OT. The Barons from this point had all the momentum of the game and pounded the Oilers with corners, shots, and all kinds of offensive pressure. Into the 2nd OT the Barons kept up the pressure and after chances trading back and fourth between the teams, the center ref called a penalty kick, from an Oiler handball in their 18-yard box. The ref that had been plaguing the Barons almost the entire game had given them the gift to take the win. Morrow, leading goal scorer for the Barons, stepped up to the dead ball again this time 12 yards from the goal and easily smacked it away for the game winner.

The Barons won their second game of the week and with some help from other Sunset League teams stepped atop the Sunset League with a 2-0-0 record and an overall record of 10-3-3. The Barons have an all-important third game this week on Wednesday against rival Edison, who has gone 0-0-2 early on and sits at the bottom of the league with Huntington Beach. The Barons have a chance to build some momentum in their season as they take on the other contenders for a league title in Edison, Marina, and Los Al and finish out the first half of league. So far the Barons have played very tight games, but that is expected in the Sunset League and every game will be a tight battle until the end or even beyond the end of regulation time.

Students helped donate over 1,000 cans

The spirit of giving was alive and well this holiday season. Many of the clubs on campus were hosting various donation drives and the students at FV were not shy in giving. Among the drives, Economics Club hosted its annual Holiday Canned Food Drive before break from December 1st through December 16th. The food drive was regulated to first period classrooms across the FV campus.

Stater Bros. generously donated brown paper bags to the cause and the members of Economics Club went to work setting up the food drive. The grand prize was a donut party for the classroom with the most cans in weight.
Needless to say the Barons took pride in their giving and raised a grand total of 1,016 cans over the two week period! A phenomenal number of cans which have all made their way to a local food shelter in Midway City, named American Family Housing. Bags and even boxes full of cans came into almost every classroom throughout the two weeks. Mrs. Chaicharee’s first period and Ms. Ro’s first period were the top two classes of the food drive, although Ms.Ro took away the prized donut party.

When asked how her class accomplished the feat she replied with surprise “I just asked the kids how many cans they thought they could bring, they said 5, and they all seemed to bring 5.” Judy Kampaman from American Family Housing was very ecstatic about the donations “This will help so many people, thank you so much.  Our pantries really needed to be restocked.”

FVHS filled the shelters pantry over the holiday season.

Economics club worked hard behind the scenes to put on the canned food drive, Julie King CO-President of Economics club commented “We hit some roadblocks on the way, but with the help of ASB, the students, and the teachers of this school, we were able to help a lot of people.” The Barons and the Fountain Valley Community will bring hope and satisfaction to many needy people. The Holiday Canned Food Drive was very successful and a great benefit to our community.

Barons placed second in the Marina Tournament.

On a warm Thursday afternoon, the Fountain Valley Boys Varsity soccer team took on Marina high school in the finals of the Marina Holiday Classic. Playing their 5^th game in 3 days, the boys were sore and beat up in the final game. They would lose a very tight match 0-1 and take 2^nd place in the tournament that commenced the pre-season for the Barons.

The tournament commenced on Tuesday the 27^th and the Barons were in a group with two out of town teams Tustin and Whittier.  In the first game the Barons took on Tustin High School. After a slow first half which saw no goals from either team the Barons looked a little sluggish and put together a shaky half. However, in the 2^nd half the Barons sprung alive and annihilated Tustin putting away 4 goals in a short span of 15 minutes in the beginning of the half. Ethan Morrow (’12) took part in every goal scoring 2 and setting up two more, Joseph Solimon (’13) would put away the two others, and playmaker Isaac Garcia (’14) supplied the other two assists. With a very strong cushion and with Tustin taken aback the Barons finished off the game easily and came away with all 10 points in the tournaments 10 point system, the win, three goals, and the shutout, with a final score of 4-0.

In the next group game played, on the same day, the Barons took on another team they had never played, Whittier High School. Once again the Barons struggled in the first half of the game. After missing more than 3 goal-mouth opportunities toward the beginning of the game, Whittier victimized the Barons with a header off a corner kick before the half. After another below par first half the Barons came out strong again in the second. After battling hard the whole half and long stints of offensive pressure, the Barons finally were able to put one away in the last 5 minutes of the game. Garcia played a lofty cross from the left side which found Morrow at the far post for his third goal of the tournament. The goal tied the game 1-1, which would put the Barons through to the quarter finals.

Captain Ethan Morrow ('12) crosses the ball.

On Wednesday morning, the Barons took on Long Beach Poly in the quarters. The boys played a strong game overall but were unable to score early. The defense of the Barons played exceptionally well keeping the Barons alive while the goals ran thin, but toward the midde of the second half, Long Beach Poly netted the first of the game after getting behind the Baron defense. The Barons rallied back to the goal though, and within 5 minutes of the first goal answered back, with a goal from Joseph Soliman off a Kenji Louer(13′) throw in. Lorenger was the shooutout keeper for the Barons and was able to stop 2 pks giving the Barons 5^th kicker a chance to send the boys to the Semis. Matt Ellis (’14) stepped up to the dead ball and convincingly finished it off for the Barons 4-3 in PKs.

In little less than 2 hours after their first game of the day, the Barons took on Sunset league opponent Newport Harbor, who they would be facing exactly one week from then in a league opener.

“This is a chance to send a message to the league, and put a little doubt in their heart, come next week,” commented Coach Jason Smith.

With a league opponent on the field, the Barons stepped up to play their best game of the tournament thus far against a strong Newport team, but one that the Barons must put away both meetings in league to be in contention for first. The boys did just that and played a very strong game, dominating Newport all over the field. The Barons came away with a 1-0 victory at the end of the day, with Morrow scoring yet again in the second half off of a great defensive play by Derek Huynen (’13). The Barons moved on to the finals, to face yet another Sunset league team Marina.

Isaac Garcia ('14) swiftly overtakes a Marina player.

Marina High School had not won their own tournament in some time. In their coaches 10 year history with the team this was the first year they had even made it to the finals. The Barons were in their second tourney final of the year and second against a Sunset league team the last a win against Los Alamitos in the Irvine challenge.

Marina came out from the start very hard and perhaps caught the Barons off guard a bit, and after a few dangerous chances the Barons unfortunately let a loose ball in the box go to the Vikings for a goal, going down 0-1. The rest of the half the Barons applied most of the offensive pressure the boys were unable to convert any chances though, on a strong Marina defense. In the second half the Barons played very well and tried frantically to score. In the last 10 minutes of the game the Barons had an abundance of set pieces but were unable to convert on any of them. After a hard fought battle the Barons lost a very close 0-1 in the Marina final taking a second place seat to Marina.

Coach Jason Smith commented on the pre-season and Marina tournament, “The Marina Tournament has always been a tune up tournament, and I think the boys are ready for the Sunset league after a strong pre-season.”

Garcia, Solimon, and Morrow all received all-tournament honors in the Tournament after strong offensive play in the five games. The Barons look to start the Sunset league next week against Newport Harbor on January 4^th.

FVHS Boys Varsity Soccer

The FVHS Boys Soccer team played some exciting soccer this past weekend at the Irvine Challenge Cup. The boys played Division-5 Lakeside, Irvine High School, San Juan Hills, and Sunset league opponent Los Alamitos in the finals.

The Barons went undefeated in the tournament scoring 13 goals to only one conceded, and took home both the grand trophy for boys and girls as well as the first place boys trophy. On Friday night the boys played Lakeside High School who were recently ranked 1st in Division-5 polls and were undefeated on the season. Ethan Morrow (’12) and Joe Soloman (’11) had goals on the night.

The Barons overall played a very strong game winning 2-0 and keeping the shutout; setting a strong tone for the rest of the tournament. The next day the boys had two games at Irvine High School. One was against the host of the tournament Irvine, and the other against San Juan Hills.

In the first game, the Barons took charge and dominated the back and through the middle of the field. Morrow continued to lead the Barons on offense scoring two goals and assisting on Issac Garcia’s (’10) goal in the 2nd half. Eric Shearer (’12) also added to the total, helping end the game with 4-0 for the Barons.

Later in the day the boys took on San Juan Hills knowing that a shutout victory would send them to the finals on Monday. The boys were ready for the challenge and once again had another strong performance both on the defensive side of the ball as well as the attacking side.

The Barons continued to fill the score sheet as Garcia, Shearer, Wade Sias (’12), and Jacob Rodriguez (’9) all found the net. Joseph Lorenger (’10) and Ryan Brown (’11) also kept the 3-game shutout streak rolling. The Barons ended with a win 4-0 and staked a place in the final game on Monday, which was looking like a Sunset League match-up against Los Alamitos.

Captains Ethan Morrow ('12) and Wade Sias ('12) hold their winning trophies

“As good as this program has been,” commented Jason Smith on such a momentous occasion, “I can’t seem to remember the last time we played in a final.”

On that frigid finals day, the Barons opened up very well. Morrow scored a quick goal 10 minutes into the 1st half after a hectic battle in the box, his leading 5th of the year. However, Los Alamitos answered right away within the next 5 minutes with a similar play.

The rest of the half the Barons were pushed on their heals a bit by the speed of Los Al. By the end of the 1st half, though the Barons had regained their hold on the game and were threatening to score once more, there was a tie. But when they returned, the Barons showed their grit and determination, taking hold of the game by winning balls and putting pressure up top.

The LA Griffins eventually broke on the tail end of a corner kick that bobbled out to Garret Stiffler (’11), who rocketed a volley into the side of the goal from the top of the box for his first of the year. The boys carried the momentum on top of their positive play, and Joseph Solomon sealed the game with a third goal for the Barons in the last 10 minutes of the game, with a final score of 3-1 .

The boys Varsity Soccer team took home both the grand trophy for the boys and girls team, awarded for highest overall point and goal totals, as well as the first place boys trophy. Hopefully, the Barons will take this early season success with them through the rest of pre-season and through the Marina tournament.

The Barons continue on this week at Katella on Wednesday and play Segerstrom here on Friday.

“I’d say that a great way to put it would be that we can try our best to have a good day at every race,” said captain Jay Bonthius (’12), “but unfortunately Saturday wasn’t a good day. We didn’t move on to state, but we were incredibly glad to have the opportunity to compete in CIF championships at a level where no one expected us to reach.”

This has been the first year since 2002 that the boys have continued into CIF championships.

“So our season is over,” continued Bonthius, “but it was without a doubt the best that we have had in nearly a decade.”

Baron Banner: What are some details of the race?

Jay Bonthius: The race contains 121 runners, 16 teams of 7 runners and a few individuals that made it without their team.  When the gun goes off, the race begins with a mile around a flat loop, where inexperienced racers tend to go out too fast and die.  After the first mile, the runners immediately turn off and go up a set of 5 incredibly steep switchbacks and then rocket down a long hill.  Next comes a hill appropriately named “poopout hill” which is simply a sharp incline for about 100 meters.  From there, you are at two miles, and 1 mile to go.  The race continues down the back of Reservoir Hill, and then makes a sharp u-turn to continue up Reservoir Hill which is a long steady incline.  The top marks half a mile to go, and from there it is all out to the finish.

BB: How did you prepare for the upcoming meet on Saturday?
JB: Each of us have run well over 1000 miles since the start of the summer, training hard every single day.

Photo Credit: Sandy Arciniaga

BB: Competition is tough this weekend, how do you think you will handle the race?

JB: Well, as a team we plan on using the same tactics that we’ve used for the last dozen races, which is to go out conservatively and let the rabbits race the first mile.  We’ll use the downhills during the second mile (Mt. Sac is incredibly hilly, one of the hilliest in the state) to pass those who went out too fast and just give it everything we have for the last (third) mile.

BB: There\’s a good size group going to CIF this year, do you think anyone will surprise and have a great meet?

JB: We’re trying to increase our CIF southern section ranking this Saturday.  CIF Southern Section is the largest and (by far) the fastest in all of California, extending in parts nearly north to Monterey, south to Mexico (excluding San Diego) and all the way east to Nevada/Arizona. Unfortunately, only 6 teams out of the hundreds can make it to state.  This Saturday, there are 16 schools racing in the division I race.  We’re ranked 13th, and we would really like to make it to 9th or 10th.  Alex Sakamoto, Eric Mendoza, Max Chern, Jordan Millington, Brenden Prieto, and Hunter Gulino are our 2-7.

BB: What do you think your chances are to make it to state?
JB: Only 6 individuals out of all the Southern Section make it to state.  I’m hoping to make it, but we’ll see!  Currently, I’m top 20.