It was a case of Jekyll and Hyde for the senior boys of SRT as the Titans defeated the Garabaldi Rebels 5-3 in the opening game of the 2015 high school soccer season Thursday, Oct. 1 at Albion Sports Complex.
The Titans opened up a 5-0 lead over the Rebels in a truly dominating first half.
The Titans forced a number of early turnovers that quickly blew the game wide open.
SRT built a commanding 5-0 half time lead thanks to a hat trick by Bela Piocza and single markers by Jae Riley and Rhys Caverly.
However, the Rebels refused to played dead and scored three in the second half to make the final much more respectable.
Dylan McKamey scored a pair for the Rebels, with Alejandro Campa recording the other marker.
SRT head coach Emad Agahi said he really liked his team’s jump in the first half, especially early in the game.
“Our boys jumped out of the gate fast and I thought it was our pressure that led to a few early goals,” said Agahi.
However, the strong first half was not followed up in the second, said Agahi. The Titans’ head coach felt his team lost its compete level after building up such a big lead.
“We gave up a few goals at the end, which is disappointing. But it served as a learning experience for the guys to keep their intensity up for the full 70 minutes. I thought we stopped playing after the first half.”
Despite the disappointing second half, Agahi said the team’s back line of Brayden Lamont, Scott Martin, Trevor Solonynka and Mansukh Sidhu was solid. The head coach said he’s tried to keep them playing together to start the year and he was surprised at how fast they’ve built up chemistry.
“We have lots of offensive players on our team right now and I am still trying different guys in different positions to make sure we know exactly what our strongest lineup will be come playoffs at the end of the month,” said Agahi.
The head coach said after a strong performance in an exhibition match against Pitt Meadows and a win over Garabaldi to start the year, the team’s confidence is growing and the Titans should fight for a top seed in this year’s playoffs.
“I think with every game we will improve especially when I can finally get guys into positions which they feel comfortable in playing,” he said.
• The SRT Titans play the Westview Wildcats Thursday, Oct. 8 at 3:30 p.m.