Clovis North Broncos top Tulare Union 3-0

Clovis North defeated Tulare Union at home 3-0 on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. (Ryan Kish/Clovis Roundup)

In a solid offensive showing, the Clovis North Boys soccer team defeated Tulare Union 3-0 on Thursday, Dec. 5. On the other side of the ball, the Broncos defense prevented Tulare Union from mounting any serious offensive challenges.

“It was a strong performance,” head coach Cameron Shahroki said after the game. “It was a good bounce back after Tuesday’s tie, we controlled possession of the game and created plenty of chances which was good. We were a little bit unlucky on some of those to only score three goals, we would have liked to score a few more,” Shahroki added.

The Broncos had 22 shots on goal and one of their goals came by virtue of a successful penalty shot in the first half of the match.

Clovis North had numerous scoring opportunities on free kicks. One free kick in the first half had beaten Tulare Union goalkeeper, Brayden Bettencourt, only for the ball to bounce off the post and away from the net.

The Broncos’ offense got the scoring started by fielding a centering pass and directing the ball passed Bettencourt who had moved out of goal to try and secure the contested ball.

When asked about the team’s strengths this season, Shahroki pointed to the team’s success with ball possession.“We’re really good at possession, we’ve done a really good job in all of our matches up to this point.”

Shahroki added that the team has “created a lot of good [scoring] chances, unfortunately in some of the games, our finishing wasn’t there, and I think today it was there for the three goals, but it would have been nice to score a few more,” Shahroki said.

Clovis North will now prepare for a matchup against De La Salle. De La Salle will begin their season with a match against Clovis High on Friday, Dec. 6 before playing the Broncos a day later at Clovis North.

“De La Salle is going to be talented in every position, they’re definitely going to be the strongest team we have faced up to this point. We’re going to have to be a little more cautious defensively, as far as being out of position and attacking,” Shahroki said.

The inherent game plan won’t change all that much, though, for the Broncos according to Shahroki. The team will still look to attack and apply pressure – as is Clovis North’s plan when entering most of their games.

The Broncos match against De La Salle is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, though, incoming rain showers could impact the game.

Ryan graduated from Buchanan High School in 2018 and is currently a student at Clovis Community College and plans to transfer to a four-year school to complete a degree in journalism or political science. Ryan was born in Pennsylvania, has lived in four states, and thinks the Yankees need to be more creative with the design of their batting practice hats.