Varsity Boys Soccer End Season After Playoff Run to Semis

Redwood’s Varsity Boys Soccer team ended their season after bowing out to the Lindsay Cardinals in the semifinals of the DII Central Section playoffs. Four players share their thoughts on their playoff run, their season as a whole, and the future.

By: Lucas de Lima

Following a third place finish in their East Yosemite League (EYL) season, the Redwood Boys Varsity Soccer team earned the 5th seed in the Division II Central Section playoffs.

On the teams mindset going into playoffs, Midfielder and Winger #15 Sebastian Montti, ’28, says “Because EYL was a little bit underwhelming, and I think that we didn’t get some results that we wanted to get, [we wanted to] leave it all out [during the] playoffs and [we wanted] to show everyone how good we were in playoffs.”

For their first round matchup, the Rangers matched up against the 12th seeded Roosevelt Rough Riders for a home game on Friday, February 14th.

The game ended in a 2-0 win for Redwood, with an early goal coming from #28 Chase Saesee, ’27, and the dagger courtesy of #17 Ayden Carpenter, ’25. #4 Barack Reyes, ’27, and #16 Adam Seechan, ’25, provided the assists.

When asked about their win over the Rough Riders, Goalkeeper #0 Kameron Konishi, ’25, says “It was a good game. We didn’t play as hard as we could, but we knew we had to win that game to move forward from there.”

In the quarterfinals, the Rangers traveled to San Luis Obispo county on Tuesday, February 18th to play the 4th seeded Arroyo Grande Eagles. In an upset, the Rangers pulled through with a tough 2-1 victory away from home. Midfielder #10 Justin Jimenez, ’25, scored both goals. Jimenez was assisted by #11 Devin Calvo, ’27, and Carpenter.

On the upset win over the Eagles, Jimenez says, “It was a really good game actually. Honestly, we came out pretty bad in the first half. We were still the better team even though we played bad, and we were just trying to get to the second half. Once we got to the second half … and Chica gave us his pep talk like he always does … after that we just went in, I got the two goals. I felt like we were on fire after that.”

Redwood’s playoff run ended in the semifinals against the number 1 seeded Lindsay Cardinals on their turf with a 4-0 loss on Thursday, February 20th.

The Cardinals would end up winning the Division II title with a 2-1 win over the 10th seeded San Luis Obispo Tigers on Wednesday, February 26th.

“[We] just didn’t have a good game. We all played sloppy. We didn’t play like we wanted it, so we ended out with a bad result,” says Konishi on the performance versus the Cardinals.

“Just not a great game. They beat us to every ball, and we just couldn’t really keep up,” says Defender #5 Matthew Garcia, ’25.

On their playoff run as a whole, Montti says, “It was pretty good. I think that a lot of people didn’t expect us to make it to the semifinals, and that a lot of people were sleeping on us. We definitely showed how good we are, and maybe next season we will make it a little [farther].”

On their season as a whole, Jimenez says, “I would be pretty happy with the season. We got a lot of ties this year, so we could have put those into wins, but I’m happy [with the season’s] outcome. I’m happy that we went far in playoffs and we didn’t lose [in the] first round.”

Jimenez is going to continue his soccer journey next year at Lemoore College, which is part of the West Hills Community College District.

Looking back, Konishi says, “Probably [my] favorite thing is all the good moments at practice that we have playing together. It’s just something you can’t beat.”

10 seniors will be graduating from the team this year, giving the reigns of the team next season to this years underclassmen and juniors.

When asked for advice to the players that will inherit the team next season, Jimenez says, “Keep that sour taste in your mouth with that 4-0 loss to Lindsay, and go in stronger and be the better team, because I know you guys can be.”

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