It’s a wonder the boys soccer team is even standing after their opening week of competition, besting three regular season opponents early on in the week before going on a 3-2 run through the Desert Ridge Cactus Cup tournament over the weekend, completing eight matches all told and coming home with a second- place tournament trophy.

This week’s schedule will offer a well-deserved break for the Falcons with only one match in the lineup, a home game versus Seton Catholic this evening, Dec. 11, at 6 p.m.

The Falcons won’t be on the pitch again until next Friday, Dec. 20, to take on Coronado at home beginning at 6 p.m., and then will be back after the holiday to take part in the Arizona Soccer Showcase heading into the New Year.

As for this past week, head coach Tony Galietti said he is happy with the Falcons’ performances, going 6-2 in just six days.

“Higley and Queen Creek are Division II schools, while Desert Ridge is a Division I school, so we were able to finish second being the second smallest school in the tournament,” he explained.

“It was an excellent week overall, and we are ready to resume league play.”

Estrella Foothills

The 2013-14 season began for the Falcons Dec. 2 with a win over Estrella Foothills, 2-0.

“From the opening whistle, both teams came out fast and played at a fast pace,” said Galietti.

“Fountain Hills out-shot the Wolves 6-5 in the first half but the score remained 0-0 at halftime.”

The Falcons scored a goal early on in the second half, but it was called back on a foul to the keeper.

“Fountain Hills finally got one on the board thanks to a long run by senior Garrett Sweetland, who took the ball from the bottom of the center circle to the end line and crossed a ball past the Estrella Keeper to midfielder David Grifo and finished it in the back of the net,” Galietti explained.

After the Falcons survived a close call with Estrella almost equalizing, freshman Matt Chalmers followed up a blocked shot by slotting the ball to Jake McAuliff, who landed a left-footed volley right past the Estrella keeper to go up 2-0 and clinch the win.

Goalie Lucas Johnson recorded his first clean sheet of the season while Jake McAuliff earned the first varsity goal of his career.

Bourgade

The Falcons’ second game of the season came the following evening, Dec. 3, with the local boys absolutely dominating Bourgade with a final score of 12-1.

The local boys went up 9-0 by halftime, putting the game well out of Bourgade’s grasp before taking the field for the second half of play.

“Devin Foyle led the Falcons with three goals and one assist on the night, Cody Dunham and Cole McAuliff both notched two goals and two assists each, and Shivam Rama had two goals,” said Galietti.

“Garrett Sweetland had his first goal of the year, along with two assists, and Joe Ahmann made his first appearance since being cleared to play from injury and netted a goal.”

Galietti said defenders Victor Reisig and Michael Pizzicaroli also “opened up their goal accounts” with a goal apiece.

Keeper Johnson played the first half and only needed to make a single save. Freshman Eri Koroli took over in the box for the second, making three saves and only allowing one goal to get past.

Phoenix Christian

Playing their final regular game of the week, the Falcons went on to best Phoenix Christian 10-1 on Dec. 5.

This was the team’s first road match of the season, managing to keep their composure on a chilly afternoon in front of a road crowd.

The Falcons were led in scoring by Cody Dunham, who recorded a hat trick (three goals) and landed one assist. Joe Ahmann had two goals and an assist on the night with Garrett Sweetland adding a goal and an assist of his own.

Matt Chalmers managed four assists with Devin Foyle, Jake McAuliff, Connor Gevirtz and Jaime Grifo each chipping in a goal apiece.

Johnson made three saves throughout 80 minutes of play.

Higley

Out of regular play and into the Cactus Cup tournament, the Falcons won their opening match-up against Higley by a narrow 1-0 margin.

“[We] controlled the opening 10 minutes of the match and were able to score an early goal that was built from the back as keeper Lucas Johnson distributed a great ball to Jake McAuliff, who sent a through ball to forward Garrett Sweetland,” Galietti explained.

“Garrett took two touches, beating the Higley right back and striking a left-footed shot across a helpless Higley keeper to score what ended up being the game-clinching goal.”

Johnson recorded five saves throughout the remainder of the game, earning his third clean sheet of the season.

Seton

Game two on the tournament saw the Falcons taking on the team from Seton Catholic, going on to win 2-0 in their second match of the day.

Galietti called the Falcons’ performance “gritty and gutsy,” saying that it was clear at this point that the squad was feeling a bit fatigued after so many games in a row.

“The squad was rotating to keep fresh legs in for the second half and it paid off as Cody Dunham converted a penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half,” Galietti continued.

“Garrett Sweetland assisted Dunham with two minutes left to play, netting his seventh goal of the young season and icing the game 2-0.”

Johnson only needed to make three saves this outing with a bit of help from a tough defense, earning yet another clean sheet.

Desert Ridge

The Falcons were finally slowed down a bit in game three on the tournament, falling behind Division I’s Desert Ridge 2-1 to earn their first loss of the season.

“Desert Ridge was able to defeat the Falcons, capitalizing on two defensive mistakes that were a sure sign of a tired team,” Galietti said.

“We scored a late goal when Cody Dunham bent in a right-footed corner kick directly past the Jaguars’ keeper.”

This loss set the Falcons up to take on the B group winners, Queen Creek, in the semifinals.

Queen Creek

Knowing that their trip through the tournament would come to an end with a loss against Queen Creek, the Falcons managed to push through the fatigue to earn themselves a 3-2 victory in the semifinals.

“Queen Creek scored first with a beautifully driven shot just outside the 18-yard box,” Galietti explained.

“We responded when Cole McAuliff sent Cody Dunham past the Queen Creek defense, where Cody equalized the score 1-1.”

Into the second half and Queen Creek was able to move ahead again, making the score 2-1.

With under 10 seconds remaining in regulation time, the Falcons earned a corner kick and sent all 11 men into the 18-yard box, including keeper Johnson.

“Cody Dunham bent another beautiful corner kick past the Queen Creek keeper, knotting up the score at 2-2,” Galietti said.

“This sent the game directly into penalty kicks to determine who would play in the tournament final.”

After five rounds of the shootout, the teams had each scored three goals.

Lucas Johnson stopped the QC kick in the ninth round, giving Scott Jarriel a chance to finish the game with a final penalty kick. And that’s exactly what he did.

Desert Ridge

Ending their extremely long week of play in the tournament finals, the Falcons once again squared off against Desert Ridge to bring a close to the week, losing 2-0 and claiming second place overall.

“The Falcons put on a gritty performance, but with six different players injured or unavailable for the final, the squad was limited to only 13 players for the contest,” Galietti said.

“FHHS has a few dangerous opportunities in the first half, but were unable to beat the Desert Ridge keeper.”

The host team scored a goal in each half, earning themselves the championship.

“It was an excellent effort, but we simply ran out of energy as they had played more matches in one week than any other team in school history,” Galietti added.

Lucas Johnson recorded 11 saves on the night.