Northside Boys Claim River Valley Cup

“We had to be (aggressive) because there were parts of the game where we didn’t have the ball; therefore, we had to defend a lot, but they managed to, in a physical game, get the ball back for the most part,” Northside coach Mauricio Maciel said.

Northside’s first goal came early on, as Angel Parga delivered a shot from nearly 15 yards out and struck it into the right corner of the net for a quick 1-0 lead.

“I had actually told Angel to set up outside the box and look for the shot, and he set himself pretty good and then (got the goal).

Before the game started, I told him you’ve got to look at this situation because he definitely has the shot, he has the ability to quickly shake defenders off and then look for the angle and go for the shot and that’s what he did,” Maciel said.

The Grizzlies then added to their advantage with 6:27 remaining in the first half as junior Kareem Ihmeidan received a cross from teammate Jesus Rodriguez and knocked it home.

“It was an excellent cross from Jesus Rodriguez and Kareem, he has good height to him and he’s also pretty good up in the air, so Jesus gave him a nice delivery and Kareem was ready to take advantage of the open goal because goalkeepers usually commit to that first pose and Kareem was able to come with that second pose for a wide-open look,” Maciel said.

Northside made that two-goal lead stand the rest of the way, as its defense and several saves from goalkeeper Chuy Parga helped preserve the shutout while the Grizzlies who were the 7A runner-ups last season also continued their perfect start to the season.

“We have four good, solid defenders, this is pretty much the same defense from last year with one exception, but other than that, this is our returning defense from last year and after playing a full season together, they are feeling very comfortable,” Maciel said.

BOYS Clarksville lost to Northside in the semifinals earlier on Saturday, but the Panthers were able to come away with the win in the third-place match.