A freshman comes up big in CCS soccer

Freshman Charlie McKay stumbled a few times the first game he was asked to play goalie for the Menlo-Atherton varsity boys soccer team but it didn’t take long for him to earn the trust of his older teammates.

McKay rewarded his teammates for that trust by coming up big during the penalty-kick portion of M-A’s Central Coast Section Division I match with visiting Palo Alto on Wednesday.

In the end, McKay blocked a shot that allowed the sixth-seeded Bears (9-7-4) to advance, 5-3 on penalty kicks, into the second round of the playoffs, which they will host.

When it came time to line up on the goal line, McKay appeared calm, serene and mindful.

For a young man playing in his biggest high school match to date, McKay exuded confidence and used the experience of, perhaps, three other times he’s had to face penalty kicks in his club career to ward off the one shot that led to victory.

Following a scoreless first half, Palo Alto got on the board in the first minute of the second half when Yahli Malchin dribbled down the left side and made a perfect crossing pass that Michel-Ange Siaba headed into the right corner of the net.