Serra posts solid victory

So it made complete sense for the Burlingame and Serra soccer teams to face off in a non-league game in San Mateo Wednesday.

Two of the top teams on the Peninsula played like it. But it was the Padres that had most of the possession and most for the chances as they held on for a 1-0 win over the Panthers.

“We played better today,” said Serra head coach Mike Keller, admitting it was probably the Padres’ best performance through four games.

“We had a lot of chances and to get a win against a quality opponent before the Christmas break, I’ll take it.”

Burlingame head coach Anthony Dimech sat two of his best players for the first 20 minutes of the game for disciplinary reasons and maybe the game is different if Daniil Kolenko and Kylan Dean are in the starting lineup. But with them out, Serra (3-1) had Burlingame (2-3) on its back foot for those opening 20 minutes. The Padres earned a deep throw-in in the second minute and got off a cross and header wide in the fourth minute. There was another header wide of the goal in the seventh minute and the first of four, first-half corner kicks in the ninth minute.

Right back Sam Cooper was aggressively moving up the flank early, serving a number of threatening balls to the top of the Burlingame penalty box.

“Sam was more of a center back last year and we have been trying him on the right (this season),” Keller said. “He’s been more involved (offensively).”

Serra was buzzing around the Burlingame penalty, given plenty of space in the midfield and severely limited Burlingame’s time on the ball.

“The possession game was great for us,” Keller said.

And the last person Burlingame wants to give space and time to is Serra striker Nate Coughlin, who was very involved and active Wednesday, getting off a half dozen shots in the first half as the Padres peppered the Burlingame goal with 13 first-half shots, seven of which were on goal.

“Nate is an active guy,” Keller said. “We’re always looking for ways to get him involved.”

And yet, Burlingame was weathering the storm. Dimech has no problem with opposing teams controlling the midfield, but when they get to a certain point, the defense stands tall.

“It was a good defensive test for us,” Dimech said. “That’s how I teach them to play defense. We’re comfortable playing defense.”

But it was only a matter of time before the Padres finally broke the seal and it was no surprise it was Coughlin. He received a pass in the midfield circle, turned and had plenty of room to roam, bringing the ball into the attacking third with no pressure on him. He hammered a shot from 25 yards out that was turned aside by Burlingame goalkeeper Aaron Peng. A Panther defender tried to clear the ball away — but it went to Coughlin, who didn’t miss when given a second chance.

“We had a chance to clear,” Dimech said. “Unfortunately it was to their guy.”

That was in the 20th minute. As the teams lined up for the restart, Dean and Kolenko checked in for the Panthers and the moves paid immediate dividends as possession evened out and the Panthers started putting pressure on the Serra defense. Burlingame earned three corner kicks and a free kick 45 yards from goal in the last 10 minutes of the first half, but came up empty and trailed 1-0 at halftime.

“We needed more goals,” Keller said. “Especially in the first 20 minutes. I’d have liked to see us up 2-, 3-nothing.”

In the second half, Serra, again, had the bulk of possession and managed eight more shots, five of which were on target. But Peng had a solid game in goal, finishing with 10 saves.

But Burlingame nearly caught the Padres napping as the Panthers were in on goal in the opening minute of the second half, but Jannick Nomm’s shot went right to Serra goalkeeper Rafa Steinberger.

In the last 10 minutes, both goalkeepers came up with big saves. Serra’s bid to double its lead came up empty when Coughlin stepped into a free kick 28 yards from goal and bent it around the defensive wall in a bid for a goal into the left corner.

But Peng was up to the challenge, pushing the shot wide.

About a minute later, Steinberger denied the Panthers’ chance at an equalizer. Dean stepped up to a take free kick from 25 yards out, in the middle of the field.

But Steinberger was there to push the ball off the crossbar before it was cleared away by the Serra defense.

Burlingame had a couple more dangerous chances in the closing minutes, getting a couple of balls to the front of the goal, but the Padres’ defense kept the Panthers at bay until the final whistle.

“Our team is still learning how to play with each other. [Serra] was good in the midfield. My middle three haven’t played a lot together,” Dimech said. “I thought we battled hard and played good defense.”

Editor's note: The name of the Burlingame goalkeeper has been updated to show it was Aaron Peng playing in goal.