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After a thrilling comeback against Fairfax, boys’ soccer, 14–4–1, will take on Sylmar High, 15–5–5, today in the final of the 2024 CIF LA Division 2 City Championship at LA Valley College.
The match will kick off at 6pm.
According to coach Nick Webster, the team is feeling confident despite Sylmar’s second seed in the league.
“I think that it’s going to be an interesting game,” he said. “I feel like if we play our game, then nobody can beat us.”
While Webster said that he doesn’t know much about Sylmar, he’s confident in the team’s abilities to pull off a victory.
The Spartans finished fourth in the Valley Mission League.
Webster said that Venice winning the city championship would be a major achievement for the team.
“I mean to be city champions—you have to remember that Los Angeles is one of the biggest cities in the world,” he said. “And for Venice High School to be the best soccer team in Los Angeles, that’s a really big deal.”
Even though Webster only coaches at a high school level, he believes that the significance of winning the championship should not be understated.
“People say that high school sports aren’t that big of a deal,” he said. “But I think that to be the best school team in Los Angeles is incredible in a city of over 16 million people.”
In the semifinals, the Gondoliers rallied from two goals down against a Fairfax squad who was a thorn in Venice’s side throughout the season.
Webster said the reason for the Gondos’ comeback in the semifinals is because “they deserved to win.”
During the regular season, the two teams split victories in their match-ups. The Gondoliers beat the Lions 4–1 February 2 after losing to them 5–2 January 17.
The comeback was inspired by freshman Christian Marroquin’s early second half goal. Junior Carter Lawrence, a defender, evened the score.
Then the match was put to bed by freshman Will Oeser who scored a goal which had all the qualities of a cross. It ended up finding its way into the back of the net.
