On Tuesday December 12th at 4 PM, the San Dimas Saints Boys soccer team took on their rivals the Bonita Bearcats for their annual Smudgecup game at Glenn Davis Stadium. The Saints would fall short to the Bearcats 2-0 after an offensive struggle.

The Saints opened up the game strong and kept the ball on the Bearcats defensive side of the field, this was looking very promising for the Saints. Unfortunately they were unable to execute and score. The Saints and Bearcats would go back and forth not being able to score which would sum up a boring first half, until very late in the first Bonita managed to keep the ball on the Saints side of the field which would lead to them scoring. Goalie Junior Michael Sanders was unable to defend the shot attempt, putting the Bearcats up 1-0. The Saints tried getting a desperation goal before going into half but simply could not break through the Bearcats defense.                                                                         

The Saints opened up the second half up badly, it seems the Saints were having a defensive struggle. The Bearcats would keep the ball in the Saints territory for a majority of the second half and would score another goal which would put the Saints down 2-0. After the second goal it seemed as if the Saints had given up or ran out of gas. The Saints offense was unable to get the ball out from their side of the field for all of the second half. The Saints would be shut out and the Bearcats would win the game taking home the Smudge Cup.                                                                                             

After the game players were interviewed about their thoughts on the game and the outcome. Senior Ceasar Marroquin Center Back and Defensive Mid for the Saints claims the Saints were not playing with their starters due to players missing practice. Marroquin says “I feel a big reason we lost was because of the lack of communication that we had as a team and the lack of effort some of our offense was putting up when we had the ball.” Senior Julio Corbetto says “ The refs made horrible calls that I feel changed the outcome of the game.” The Saints are now 0-3-2 and will take on Rowland High School Friday December 15th hoping to finally grab their first win.