Coach assesses strategy after 8-2 boys’ soccer win

“It was nice to see five different players score and get that confidence into those players but that wasn’t the point,” said Rivera.

Jaden Dubon, Ivan Solano and Jonathan Garcia scored two goals each while Dario Guadarrama and Jose Magaña scored a single goal.

Rivera said he’s happy with the results but believes their defense could have prevented the two goals from being scored.

“Defensively I feel like we could have been stronger and not allow those two goals,” said Rivera. “Sometimes when you play teams that are at a lower level than you, you kind of play down to their level. That’s what I think what happened in a short stretch of the game.”

Since preseason, the Cowboys have lost a total of six games and won a single match.

Another aspect Rivera would like to see the Eagle squad work on is possession time, even if that includes passing the ball back towards the goalkeeper.

“We were in a hurry to score goals, it seemed like,” said Rivera. “It’s motivating to see that ball go into the back of the net but can we balance that with possession? You’re going to have to keep the ball for a little bit and keep it out of their hands.”

Rivera said, “Sometimes when playing the ball upfield, room may run out and there is nothing you can do to move forward.”

If the ball is kept up in their area so much it creates space behind the defensive line, that’s something the other team can exploit, explained Rivera.

The Eagles hosted the Redmond High School Panthers Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., too late for press time.