Boys soccer: Terra Linda goalie looms large in scoreless draw with Tam

The Tam High boys soccer team had only been shut out once this season so far in 10 games and, with the chances the Red-tailed Hawks were creating at Terra Linda it seemed unlikely to happen again on Tuesday.

TL goalie Jesse Rodriguez made a big save in the first half then several more in the second as Tam had the Trojans’ goal under siege for about 15 minutes. In the end, that proved to be enough as the Trojans were able to see out the game and earn a point with a 0-0 tie.

The result for TL (4-3-2, 1-0-1 MCAL) was a far cry from the previous meeting between the two teams when the Red-tailed Hawks (6-2-3, 0-0-1) rolled to a 5-0 win with Marco Caruso accounting for four goals on Dec. 8.

“Marco scored four on us in the first game,” TL coach Mike Crivello said. “We had no answers. We were slow to adjust. Anyone but him today was sort of the mantra. Not that Tam doesn’t have other great players but you can only do so much with the resources we have. You have to pick your poison and today we picked that one and fortunately for us it worked out.”

The Red-tailed Hawks controlled much of the early stages of the game but were relatively held in check until the 22nd minute when Devin Perkins made a run into the 18-yard box. Perkins was initially swarmed by three or four TL defenders but kept the ball, doubled back for a moment, then turned back to face goal — losing several defenders in the process. Rodriguez, who is back with for TL during his senior season after playing MLS Next for the previous two years, came off his line quickly to make the initial stop then pounced on the loose ball before Perkins could get off a second shot.

“If we give up a goal early in the game, I think we’re toast because then it changes what we want to do and really gets Tam on the front foot,” Crivello said. “That was probably the biggest one, just to keep us in the game, give us a little bit of confidence.”

Tam had a couple other chances in the first half but a header by Perkins looped over the goal in the 30th minute and a shot by Mateo Hale flashed just wide in the 38th. TL got into the half unscathed but Tam was just getting warmed up.

Tam’s Jack Millette played a long ball in to West Freau, playing striker at that point in the game, inside TL’s 18-yard box. Freau was stationed between two TL defenders — neither one close enough to prevent him from taking a touch and firing a shot on goal. Rodriguez came off his line quickly for his second big save of the game.

Tam had another shot from outside the 18-yard box that curled maybe a foot wide of the goal in the 54th minute. Five minutes later, Perkins put in a great cross to Caruso to head at the back post but Rodriguez was again there to make the save.

“I read that, since the ball – (Perkins) put curve on it and back post – if i were to step out there’s a chance I don’t get it and (Caruso) will beat me to it so I just waited, waited, waited,” Rodriguez said. “I picked my moment when he headed the ball and I was in perfect position to save it. There was no way it was going to go over me, under me. I had the post.”

Rodriguez made what he considered his biggest save in the 61st minute when Perkins got in behind the defense well inside the 18-yard box. Rodriguez again came off his line as Perkins took his shot and got a shin to the ball, deflecting the shot wide. The two players collided and Perkins, one of Tam’s top scorers on the season, left the game with a knee injury and did not return.

“Definitely when the player on Tam got injured, it was a big clash but I had to come out and be big,” Rodriguez said. “We lost the ball in the back but you’ve just got to be big, be confident to make the saves to keep us going in the game.”

Another minute later, Tam had a corner kick but Rodriguez stretched out above a couple of players to punch the ball away from danger. From there, TL was able to find a bit of a foothold in the game again and saw out the game without conceding another major chance.

“For the last 30 minutes, we defended very well,” Rodriguez said. “They had a couple of corners but I think we went with everything. We played with passion, we played with energy and we got a result.”

Crivello came into the match determined not to let Caruso beat the Trojans again like he did in December. To that end, Crivello assigned the task of corralling Caruso to defender Brooks Hamann.

“(Hamann) basically was shadowing Marco the whole time and at times man marking him depending on where he was on the pitch,” Crivello said. “(Hamann) did such an amazing job on the wings, the right, the left. When they moved (Caruso) to the nine, Brooks was there. We had some answers and kind of group defended as well as individually defended. We just wanted to make it hard for Tam to solve those problems.”

Around the county

• Eleazar Lopez scored twice to lift Archie Williams to a 4-0 victory in its MCAL opener against Branson. The Peregrine Falcons (6-3-1, 1-0-0) also got goals from Devin Singh and Silas Eyler. Aidan Dunn posted the shutout in goal for the Falcons, whose initial league opener at San Marin has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
• Dylan Garcia and Tallan Clahan scored for San Marin and Marin Catholic, respectively, as the teams split the points following a 1-1 draw on Tuesday. Eliezer Calderon had the assist for the Mustangs (0-6-4, 0-0-1) and Rhys Jones had the assist for the Wildcats (4-3-2, 0-1-1).
• San Rafael scored three times in the second half en route to a 5-2 victory against Redwood on Tuesday. The Bulldogs (6-2-5, 2-0-0) climbed into sole possession of first place with six points. San Rafael and Redwood (3-2-3, 1-1-0) were tied 2-2 at the half.