MHS boys’ soccer struggles with composure during rough season (video)

The Maricopa High School boys’ soccer team has seen flashes of brilliance throughout the year, but has yet to put all the pieces together.

The Rams fell to 1-7 on the season after losing to Mesquite High School Friday night, 2-0. Despite dominating possession throughout much of the game, Maricopa was unable to capitalize on opportunities.

“I think the biggest thing we are going to have to work on is just our technical stuff,” head coach Cortney Kellenaers said. “We gotta get our touches down and we gotta get our passing down and we have to stop the turnovers. I think we gave [Mesquite] more chances than they created on their own.”

Mesquite took the lead with a tremendous shot late in the second half. The goal seemed to deflate Maricopa’s spirit, and the young team began to lose their composure.

After dominating the game by opening up the field and creating shooting opportunities, the Rams couldn’t piece anything together in the final 15 minutes. The Wildcats added another goal with minutes left, and the game ended on a sour note when senior goalkeeper and team captain Manuel Melendrez was given a red card after the final whistle.

Melendrez will likely miss the Rams’ next game against Westwood High School (Mesa) because of the incident is already missing eight players due to injury or ineligibility and will likely only have one or two substitutes available for Tuesday’s road test.

“It’s not an attitude (problem), it’s more psychological with the ability to maintain the correct frame of mind,” Kellenaers said. “They’ll forget about it and they’ll come back with a good attitude and they’ll work hard. But as soon as we get scored on, they tend to lose their focus, lose their concentration and they tend to think about the problem than focusing on the solution.”

Maricopa will return home on Thursday against Williams Field High School out of Gilbert.

“The teams we are playing for the rest of the season are more on our level,” Kellenaers said. “I think they might be slightly better than us, but we have the potential to overcome kind of like [Mesquite] did with us tonight. It’s just going to be a matter of whether they can hold it together psychologically or not.”