Bulldogs fall to Del Oro, 3-0

Folsom High's varsity boys' soccer team dropped their first game of Sierra Foothill League play against Del Oro on Friday night, 3-0. The Bulldogs probably deserved a goal or maybe two based on the number of opportunities that they created, but they couldn't find the back of the net on this night, as they're overall record dropped to 2-4-2, while the Golden Eagles improved to 6-1-2. Folsom played its best soccer in the first 12 minutes, when they possessed the ball, had it a good deal of time in Del Oro's defensive end, but couldn't produce a goal. Del Oro began to settle down about this time and put some shots on goal before finally scoring with 24 minutes to play in the first half. The goal got Folsom off its game a bit. "We moved the ball well, and then when we got down a goal we panicked and we lost the whole concept of being able to build and combine," Folsom coach Kevin Fagan said. "But we had a lot of opportunities and chances. We got it into the final third like I wanted, but give credit to Del Oro's keeper; he's a good keeper and Del Oro played a strong, physical game in front of him." From the back, Ethan Pham and Kyle Gosal were offensive at every opportunity, while midfielders Hunter Wexler, Aiden Kusaba, and Amal Padhye got to ball up top to JJ Vargas, Justin Le and Eric Herasymchuk. These players, as well as Cole Kurlinski, worked together and created shot opportunities, but again, nothing that resulted in a goal. Meanwhile, Del Oro scored three and at least two came on Folsom mistakes. "I don't want to take anything away from Del Oro, but they did capitalize on some mistakes we made," Fagan said. "They played organized and moved the ball well. They have some quality players, but we didn't necessarily help ourselves." Fagan said his midfielders are the strength of the team: Vargas, Padhye, Kusaba, and Wexler, along with Herasymchuk, a forward and Ellison, a center back. He looks for the team to make the playoffs this season after not making it a season ago. Varsity girls Folsom dropped a 1-0 game to Del Oro. "It really was an even game and it's disappointing to come away without anything," Folsom coach Rick Carrigan said. "At least a tie would have been fitting. "In the first half, it looked liked we hadn't played in a couple of weeks, and we hadn't. We grew into the game. We gave up a nice goal; tip our cap to her. "In the second half, we definitely outplayed them. In the last 10 minutes, we had three corners and three free kicks from 30 yards away but nothing came from it. I was sure we were going to score but it didn't happen."