Heading into the senior night game against LCC on Thursday, Feb. 19, the boys varsity soccer team had a record to boast about. With a record of 7 wins and 0 losses in the official season, Carlsbad mens varsity soccer earned the ranking of first in their league against LCC, RBV, Vista, El Camino and Sage Creek.

“I’m happy we got a result,” senior Emilio Bunnell said. “Hopefully our ceding comes out well in CIF.”

The first half of the game proved frustrating for both the spectators and the players, and eventually ended in a tie. Both teams fought to maintain possession, with few attempts at goal from either team. Despite the fact that the competition became continually more strenuous, Carlsbad managed to keep their number of fouls down, while LCC’s fouls slowly began to increase as the first half continued.

The first half ended in a tie; Carlsbad’s team remained strong, taking every opportunity to gain an advantage through foul kicks, corner kicks, and goal kicks.

The second half proved more frustrating than the first, with LCC fouling more during attempts to regain possession. However, defensive player and main kicker Collin Riccitelli took full advantage of these fouls, using the foul kicks received to set Carlsbad’s offensive players up for a hopeful success.

The number of attempts on goal increased for Carlsbad, and decreased for LCC, with goalie Seth Ketterer remaining vigilant and stopping all attempts that LCC managed. As the final 15 minutes neared and the score remained tied 0-0, head coach Mr. Riccitelli looked for more creative ways to score against LCC, using all corner kicks Carlsbad received to his advantage by playing senior Moritz Liyanage, the tallest member of the team, to hopefully head the ball into the goal.

“[Almost scoring] felt pretty good, but I’m pretty sad that I didn’t get to put it away,” Liyanage said. “It was a pretty awesome cross though.”

The game ended 0-0, much to the dismay of the excited crowd. Though Carlsbad did not receive the win they were hoping for, the seniors on the team still enjoyed their senior night.

“I think my favorite memory of the season is playing with Ryan Brent, he’s been a good friend of mine since we were young and him finally playing our senior year has really made it ten times better,” Bunnell said.

Though Carlsbad’s final league game ended in a tie, the team still holds the ranking of first in their league, and anticipates a strong outcome in the playoff season.

“We’ll prepare by just coming out to practice and working hard, and do what we did last year to hopefully come out with a win,” Bunnell said.