Jonathan Melendez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Student assigned to cover Sierra Linda High School for AZPreps365.com 

Sierra Linda lost 5-3 at home to Metro Tech on Monday despite a hard effort from the whole team. 

This win was crucial for Metro Tech as a win puts it within range of playoff contention depending on how matches go between ranks 20 through 25.  

Sierra Linda is now forced to play the waiting game. A win would have put it straight to the play-in tournament but now the team must wait and see how match-ups go once scores are updated and playoff brackets are released.

“It sucks that you don’t get them to grasp the opportunity that they have until it's too late,” said coach Daniel Ramirez.

Sierra Linda was tied at the end of the first half but failed to defend two goals which came early in the second half.  

It was an emotional night for Sierra Linda. This was senior night, so the bleachers were filled with family and friends cheering and supporting the student athletes. Players were playing with heightened emotions and felt the pressure of wanting to show out for those who came to support them. 

Before the game Ramirez expressed that one of his main concerns was the emotion and pressure the players might feel having a large crowd watching them.

“A lot of the players come from working-class families who can't come to all the games, they show their support by allowing their student athletes to play rather than have them babysit or work, so having them all gathered here at once is new to these guys,” Ramirez said. 

The Bulldogs were frustrated, the pressure was on all of them to perform and secure their spot in the playoffs. 

Arturo Rivera expressed his frustration during halftime when the Bulldogs conceded three goals in the first half. “We all need to just wake up, man, its senior night, that’s it,” he said.

Rivera scored early in the first to knot the game 1-1.  

Despite the loss, Sierra Linda played as a group. Rivera, Daniel Valencia and Alejandro Aguirre each scored in the first. 

“We needed to stop getting frustrated with each other. That was the main thing,” said Diego Moran.

The team got frustrated with each other during the second half because of officiating and the frustration of not being able to stop Metro Tech.  

At one point parents also expressed their discontent with officiating as they chanted for the ref to officiate fairly. This led to the referee speaking to the athletic director and threatening to stop the game if the crowd was not silenced.  

Despite all the frustration and emotion of losing, Ramirez still expressed gratitude and wisdom to his players, encouraging them to keep their heads up and be grateful for the time they had. The players jokingly asked Ramirez if they would still have practice the next day as they held on to the hopes that they would still be within range of the play-ins.  

Sierra Linda is 6-5-1. Metro Tech improved to 7-4-1.