![\"Millikan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LPT-L-HSBS-MILLIKAN-1.jpg\")
Millikan forward Grant Johnson, left, and Long Beach Poly goalkeeper Mekaih Twal, right, each played a big role in a scoreless between the teams in a Moore League game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Photo by Cristian Vasquez)<\/p>\nLONG BEACH \u2014 Despite its 11 shots on goal, the Millikan boys soccer team was unable to come away with a win against Long Beach Poly on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
The contest ended in a scoreless tie at Poly High.\u00a0This was mainly due to an incredible performance by Poly goalkeeper Mekiah Twal, who made 10 saves.<\/p>\n
Both teams are still looking for their first win in the Moore League. Poly (3-6-4 overall, 0-0-2 league) will face rival Wilson on Friday. Millikan (9-3-2, 0-0-2) will host Long Beach Jordan on Friday.<\/p>\n
Millikan forward Grant Johnson, left, and Long Beach Poly goalkeeper Mekaih Twal, right, each played a big role in a scoreless between the teams in a Moore League game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Photo by Cristian Vasquez)<\/p>\n
The first 40 minutes of the contest saw lots of fouls by both sides. Millikan committed 10 fouls in the first half.<\/p>\n
Senior captain Ivan Cervantes Vega tried to get the Rams on the scoreboard but all three of his shots on goal missed. Two of the shots were saved by Twal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis season I feel like I\u2019ve gained a lot of confidence and my team backing me and supporting me,\u201d Twal said. \u201cI felt like I was able to just give it my all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Midway through the first half, Millikan\u2019s Ethan Weinman and Grant Johnson both missed opportunities to take the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve tied another game that we\u2019ve had significantly more chances than the other team had,\u201d said Millikan head coach Jeff Schofield. \u201cMoore League games are just so hectic because everyone knows each other and the intensity is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poly found a rhythm in the second half, attacking Millikan goalkeeper Kirby Sheets\u2019 net after a lackluster first half where it managed just one shot on goal.<\/p>\n
The Jackrabbits came close to scoring late in the half when junior Matthew Sanchez volleyed the ball toward Sheets, only to have the sophomore keeper punch it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of my boys. (It was) a hard battle,\u201d said Poly head coach Carlos Casillas, \u201cit was back and forth, but I mean the boys fought till the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Casillas\u2019 son, junior midfielder Carlos Casillas Jr., had a chance at a goal late in the game but sailed his kick over the right post.<\/p>\n
In the final minutes, Johnson had a final attempt at a goal, but his powerful right-footer went directly into the fists of Twal, who punched the ball out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Grant and I know he\u2019s strong on his right foot,\u201d Twal said, \u201cso I was ready at my near post.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson and Twal, who have a longtime friendship, shared a friendly moment after the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe regrouped and got better,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe started having more chances at the end, but we just couldn\u2019t finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG BEACH \u2014 Despite its 11 shots on goal, the Millikan boys soccer team was unable to come…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,5479,54213,2044,131,133,132,137,127],"class_list":["post-125425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-high-school-all-sports","tag-high-school-soccer","tag-high-school-sports","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}