JV Jags blow first-half brace to draw in Classic City Championship
After an early goal in the first 10 minutes and a 2-0 halftime lead, the men’s junior varsity soccer team tied the Clarke Central Gladiators in the latest iteration of the JV Classic City Championship.
Junior Josue Castellon-Ramos scored both goals in the first half, assisted by freshmen Melvin Ramirez Calderon and Landon Bustamente-Vaca.
“I was following through for the ball to see if any rebounds or any mistakes were made. And when I saw the ball roll off the keeper’s hands, my first thought was scoring. When there were too many defenders around me, I just passed it to my teammate so he could score,” Ramirez Calderon said.
At the end of the first half, the Jags were in high spirits but quickly tired out, letting the Gladiators score two goals of their own.
The tie game represents significant improvement from last season’s JV Classic City Championship. Not only did the Jags score two more goals than they did last year, they also held the Gladiators at bay for the majority of the game.
“We’re incredibly unlucky to only get a draw instead of a win. They play with passion, poise and togetherness, which is rare to see this early in the season, especially on younger teams like this one,” co-head coach Conor Naughton said.
Sophomore goalkeeper Tony Pena was not disappointed with the team’s draw.
“Last year, we lost badly and I feel like we’ve made big improvements for Cedar to tie with Central, at least for the JV team,” Pena said.
Moving forward, the Jaguars hope to focus on their weak points with their coaches.
“What I need to improve is on visualizing my opponent and where they are, I want to talk to my coach about practices, putting me in a one on one spot to work on my defense,” freshman center midfielder Angel Martinez said.
