Lady ‘Balers play first game in almost a month, beat Everett
Alvarez 5-1
Hollister – If there was any rust on the San Benito girls soccer team, it was shaken off during warm-ups.
The Lady ‘Balers returned to the field for the first time in almost a month Wednesday, and picked up exactly where they left off as they took care of visiting Everett Alvarez with a 5-1 league win.
After the squad’s alumni game and match at Soquel were both canceled due to last week’s inclement weather, Wednesday’s game against the Eagles was the first competitive contest San Benito had seen since their 6-5 win against North Monterey County on Dec. 18.
And with five goals on the scoreboard, including two in the first 10 minutes of play, the layoff clearly didn’t have that much of an affect.
The one area that may have been a tad sluggish was finishing, as the Lady ‘Balers put 25 shots on net, 15 in the first half. With the amount of strong attempts San Benito took in the first 40 minutes, coach Mike Schurig felt it should have been 6-0 at the half instead of 3-0.
“But that’s OK because we came out with a 5-1 win,” Schurig added. “Because it’s been a month, the girls were rusty on their finishing. But this was really good for us as we get ready for Friday.”
On Friday, San Benito will head to North Salinas, which tied Everett Alvarez on Dec. 14, 0-0.
On Wednesday, though, the tone was set from the start. JC Clayton scored unassisted in the 2nd minute of play after she intercepted a pass from Alvarez’ keeper. Five minutes later, Clayton set up Sophie Coelho in front of the net, who deposited the ball into the left side in the 7th minute.
The two teamed up again in the 29th minute, when Coelho passed off to the right side, and Clayton found the right side of the net to make it 3-0 San Benito at halftime.
Alvarez scored their lone goal in the 46th minute when Jackie Gutierrez sat all alone eight yards out in front of keeper Emily Key. The Eagle received a cross pass from the right side and took a shot past the hands of a diving Key.
But San Benito would score two more times in the game when Sara Yamasaki found the back of the net in the 66th minute for an unassisted score, and Coelho scored her second goal in the 79th minute off a pass from Hannah Cobb.
Alvarez had six shots total in the game, only one in the first half. San Benito’s Kelli Shingai played the first half in net, while Key, who made two impressive slide tackles to break up a pair of breakaways, played the second.
San Benito (2-1, 7-3) will play North Salinas on Friday. Kick-off is at 3:30 p.m.
Note: San Benito’s alumni game, which was scheduled for Jan. 4, has been canceled … San Benito’s match against Soquel, which was slated for Jan. 5, was canceled due to inclement weather. It does not appear it will be rescheduled … Due to poor fields, the San Benito junior varsity girls soccer team will play their remaining games on the varsity field, while the varsity team will play on the football field at Andy Hardin Stadium.
