Caption: The PACA boys team races down the field after Dylan Meira made their first and only goal in the game against EAC. [photo by Paulo W. Santos]
by Theo Silva (Warrior Post Reporter / São Paulo, Brazil)
Aug. 15 – PACA won their first soccer game of the 2023-2024 season on their own turf against EAC with a 1-0 header goal by Dylan Meira.
This goal came after a stalemate between the two teams as the ball was dribbled up and down the pitch throughout the first half of the game and well into the second half.
The PACA team missed their first opportunity to score when a goal was prevented by EAC after only 1:30 seconds into the game.
According to the new varsity soccer coach, Zé Adriano Vilhera (known as Coach Zé), the team seemed a bit lost in the beginning. As the game went on, they were able to learn how to pressure the other team well and played on the enemy side of the field, improving as the game went on.
EAC got a free ball 16 minutes into the game but were unable to score. At the 24:50 mark, Junior Nicholas Vergara got injured, and it took some time to leave the field. This time would be added to the stoppage time later on.
At the first-half soccer break, the score was still 0:0. As the second half started, the stalemate continued with both teams missing multiple opportunities to score.
PACA’s defense kept an impressive command of the ball as the second half of the game was winding to an end. The crowds were cheering on their team. Every good pass was recognized by the crowd and applauded. There were several missed shots by both teams as the clock moved past the 30-minute mark.
In the final minutes of the game, PACA found an opening in the EAC defense. Senior Pedro Tartoni passed the ball to Junior Dylan Meira who aligned himself for a header goal that hit the back left corner of the EAC goal.
Meira and the team began to scream and shout the moment the ball contacted the net. After hugging his teammates, he raced across the field to share the moment of victory with PACA fans on the sidelines.
Red, sweaty faces, big smiles, and expectant eyes turned toward the scoreboard to watch the number switch from 0:0 to 1:0.
The final minutes of the game saw a few scoring opportunities, but all opportunities were blocked. There was also confusion as to the game’s score since the scoreboard remained showing 0:0 for the rest of the game. After the game, it was confirmed that PACA had won.
This win for the start of the soccer season is in contrast to the soccer season from last year when PACA didn’t win a single game.
Meira attributed the win to his team for being both amazing and lucky. According to Meira, there were many opportunities they could have used and they lucked out a bit by being able to score so close to the end of the game.
Coach Zé said that the team would need to train hard to be different from years past. Looking forward to the rest of the soccer season, Zé also said that the team needs to work on more strategized play tactics which allowed them to score the winning goal in their first game.
That is something that will improve with more training, said Zé.
The PACA Varsity boys’ win was vindication for the PACA varsity girls’ team, who played hard earlier that same evening but finished with a 0-2 loss against the ECA girls’ team.
The PACA girls’ game started at 5:00 with strong offensive moves. Their attacks were solid, but the defense from EAC was just as strong.
Most of the fouls in the game were made by the EAC girls, but the Warrior defense held them off well into the second half of their game. Eventually, the EAC defensive team members found their opportunity and scored two goals by the end of the game.
Freshman Carolina Candido said that the team is still working on how they could have had better communication among team members. According to Candido, it was natural for some miscommunication to take place since many new people joined the team this year and it was their first game.
Candido also said that Junior Julia Falchi was one of the best players in this match, making many kicks to the goal, dodging and weaving everything.
