The Laguna boys soccer team ended up in second place in the Condor League giving them a wild-card match before the CIF tournament against Sierra Canyon, which they won handily 5-3.

Instead of spending their four-day weekend skiing or catching up on sleep, the Owls traveled to El Segundo to play the first round of the CIF tournament against Lennox Academy.

The Owls came out hot, with senior Alex Furukawa scoring the first goal in the first two minutes of the game from a ball played over the defense by sophomore Luca Wahlberg. Furukawa beat his defender one on one and chipped the keeper, igniting the Owls momentum that would carry through for the rest of the game.

The second goal didn’t come until the second half for Laguna. A foul was drawn for the Owls in the Lennox half of the eld. Sophomore Fatta Karoma took the kick for Laguna and found se- nior captain Ethan Tyng’s foot in the Lennox box.Tyng had a one touch tap in to increase the Owls lead to two.

Shortly after Tyng put another one in the net off a cross from junior defender Alfie Russell. Tyng timed his run perfectly, receiving Russell’s cross inside the box, controlling it and placing it in the bottom left corner of the goal.

The Owls prevailed, leaving El Segundo with a 3-0 win. “It was a solid performance by the team overall, and we controlled the game the whole time. I’m glad we got the win and we’re moving onto the next round,” said Tyng after the contest.

The Owls moved on to the second round to play Santa Clara, the same team the boys had lost to in the CIF semi- nals last year.The game against Santa Clara was very aggressive, with many fouls called against both sides. Possession of the ball was even between both teams, and the Owls had more shots on goal.

The Owls showed heart, tenacity, and determination, answering each of Santa Clara’s goals.The game was tied 2-2 with only a few minutes left. On a controversial call, Santa Clara scored yet again on a free kick, making the score 3-2.The Owls tried several times to answer Santa Clara but ultimately fell short and lost.

“Against Santa Clara, I felt like we were going to win the whole time.They happened to have 3 shots, and all 3 went in.The game came down to us making a couple small mistakes, but those mistakes ended up costing us the game and the ultimate goal of winning a title,” said Furukawa.