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Rockville likes chances in 2A West

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006

The face of the 2A West Region playoffs could have been very different for the Rockville boys soccer team had it been able to play with forward and ex-leading scorer Alex Goycochea, who had totaled seven goals in the team’s first five games. But the Rams are moving on quite nicely, even without him.

The forward had been playing, despite being ineligible through the beginning stages of the season, and thus all four wins he played in were forfeited, wounding the Rams’ playoff chances.

But it didn’t kill them either – especially with the Rams losing only one of their final seven games, including a 9-1 victory over Clarksburg, who joins them in the 2A West playoff bracket, on Thursday. It was an enjoyable win on senior night, capping a tumultuous regular season on a high note. Senior midfielder Mark Owen produced a hat trick in the game, while junior Fabian Aguilar scored twice.

But the real key to the Rams’ (officially 5-6-1 record) revitalization has been their defense. After Goycochea was removed from the team, Rockville immediately became a defensive team, shutting out four consecutive opponents, all within the division.

Their superb finish gives coach Abdel Makhlouf hope that despite their hardships, they could be a force in the postseason.

‘‘Really, it just means that we won’t have home games in the playoffs, and we’ll also have an extra game with no bye,” he said. ‘‘We [were] part of the rest of lottery, but we don’t worry about that. We know that we’ll be a good playoff team no matter what.”

Rockville should be one of the stiffest competitors in an assorted region that features five teams from Carroll County, three from Frederick, and two from Washington. Clarksburg (4-7) and Northwood (2-5) comprise the other two Montgomery County teams.