They EL Haynes Mountain Lions returned to action Tuesday with a commanding 5-3 victory over School Without Walls to move to 2-0 on the season.  Haynes jumped out to a 5-1 lead before relenting two goals to Walls in the waning minutes of the game.  Haynes relied on an aggressive midfield that pressured the Walls defenders and opened up offensive opportunities for the forwards.   Venjamin V. started the scoring off just a few minutes into the game after putting back a rebound from the shot of fellow teammate Jorge A. from just outside of the 18 yard box.  Several minutes later, Ronaldo M. hit Jorge A. on a through ball to the left side that Jorge buried into the back of the net.  Towards the end of the first half, Jorge A. was back on the board converting a penalty kick earned by teammate Meron R.  Walls pushed a goal across before half leaving the Haynes lead at 3-1. The Mountain Lions came out strong in the second half and continued to create offensive chances and put the pressure on the Walls defense.  The fourth Haynes goal came off of a free kick from just oustide of the box.  Meron R. knuckled a shot over the wall and under the top post, fooling the keeper on the way.  Several minutes later Joseph M. earned a penalty kick inside the box and Ronaldo M. calmly put it away to put Haynes up 5-1.   The Haynes defense had a strong performance, led by Yvan S., Beniyam G, Aron M, Mairo M. and Diego U.   Haynes returns to action in the Petworth Cup next week against Washington Latin.

    On a beautiful September day the EL Haynes Varsity hosted and won the inaugural soccer game on the new turf field.  In front of a large crowd of teachers, students, families, and community members, the Mountain Lions defeated St. Anselm Abbey 5-1 to start tthe 2015 season.        In a competitive first half, both teams had numerous scoring opportunities and matched possession evenly.  St. Anselm's Abbey started off the scoring by sneaking a deflected corner kick past the Haynes defense to take the lead heading into halftime.  Their lead didn't last for long, however, as Haynes struck within 30 seconds of the start of the second half. Midfielder R. Martinez slipped a through ball to winger J. Argueta who blasted it past the keep to even the score.         The two teams played the next 25 minutes in an even tie, trading scoring opportunities while both defenses came up with big stops.  The Haynes defense, led by sweeper Y. Sipowa, started to shut down the Abbey attack as the half wore on.  Defensement F. Alverez, M. Martinez, and B. Gebrie kept a tight line in front of Alex Mejia, who made his Varsity debut with a series of impressive saves.         With fifteen minutes to go in the game, the Haynes attack unleashed an outporuing of goals.  Ronaldo Martinez again slipped a through ball by a teammate, this time to the right side and winger H. Carillo. Carillo cut the ball past a defenseman, pulled the ball inside and finished with a left footed shot off the post to put Haynes ahead for good.  Two minutes later, M. Rezene found Martinez and Martinez blasted a shot past the keeper to get a goal to go with his two assists for the day.  Minutes later V. Villatoro received a ball from B. Gebrie and also found the back of the netting.  Finally, junior E. Garcia found M. Rezene on a through ball and M. Rezene finished the breakaway with a laser pass to the corner and finish the 5-1 victory for the Mountain Lions. Haynes returns to action next Tuesday at home against School Without Walls.