Campbell Hall (2-1) set the tone during the early stages of the match by playing physical against a Flintridge Prep squad that competed without senior defender Sean Carroll.
The Rebels also lost the services of freshman midfielder/forward Giovanni Rollie, who suffered a thigh injury midway through the first half. Chavez said Rollie, who didn't return, might miss a match or two.
"Campbell Hall has a lot of juniors and seniors with experience," said Chavez, who took over the program after Coach Stephen Oderkirk retired after leading the Rebels to the league crown. "So, they are going to be more physical.
"My younger experienced players were caught off guard by that and didn't know how to handle it. We have a new system in that we are going to play more sophisticated and attack so we can go forward and that will allow us to be more creative."
The Vikings opened the scoring when Tye Whipple converted on a direct kick past Flintridge Prep goalkeeper Fuad Beshir in the 11th minute. Max Whipple capped the scoring when he took a pass from Tye Whipple and beat Beshir, who finished with nine saves, in the 53rd minute.
Flintridge Prep's best scoring opportunity came in the 24th minute, but Mack Carroll's shot sailed over the crossbar.
Chavez, who served as an assistant coach on the school's girls' varsity team last season following head coaching jobs at La Salle, Los Alamitos and Westridge, said the Rebels plan to spend the remainder of December getting acclimated to his system.
"They want to win and they are buying into the system," Chavez said. "I'm not disappointed with the way we played, but we just want to be more physical and get experience."
CHARLES RICH covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3228 or by e-mail at charles.rich@latimes.com.
