‘Balers Give Live Oak a Run For Its Money; Falter Late
Hollister – What looked to be a golden opportunity for the San Benito boys soccer team to turn its season around and put the first blemish on the record of Tri-County Athletic League powerhouse Live Oak went up in smoke.
Or should we say in a slew of yellow cards?
Despite outplaying their undefeated visitors for much of the contest, the Haybalers fell victim to a dizzying sequence of personal fouls that resulted in a tie-breaking Acorns’ goal late in the second half. The 2-1 defeat left San Benito wondering what might have been.
“It would’ve been a much different game if these guys had kept their heads in it,” said ‘Balers goalie Eddie Trujillo, after his teammates combined to receive two yellow cards and a disastrous red card.
San Benito head coach Juan Carlos Martinez admired his players’ physical play and determination, but questioned their judgment in losing control of their emotions.
“They don’t pay attention to what they’re doing,” said Martinez, whose team is still in search of its first TCAL victory. “They don’t think when they’re playing. Getting all the yellow cards … it’s the main reason we lost the game.”
After a hard-fought first half ended in a 1-1 tie, the game’s tension seemed to continue brewing during halftime.
The referees set the tone for the second-half fireworks with their apparent willingness to allow the players to settle the contest on the field, allowing them a large amount of leeway in terms of physical contact. San Benito’s Allan Nieves received a yellow card in the first half, but numerous other infractions on both sides of the ball were ignored.
Though the second half began under relatively peaceful auspices, all of that changed in the 56th minute. Once Live Oak’s Rene Hernandez was tackled hard in sea of ‘Balers’ defenders directly in front of the San Benito net without drawing a penalty kick, tempers flared and the quality soccer that had been played disappeared in favor of poor sportsmanship and retribution.
In the 60th minute, ‘Balers sweeper Jose Carlos Vasquez received a red card for up-ending Acorns forward Garrett Frechette, resulting in an ejection that crippled the San Benito defense.
“From that point, we lost the game,” said Martinez. “He’s my best defender.”
In the next 12 minutes, Live Oak (9-0-2, 3-0 TCAL) was assessed three yellow cards and the ‘Balers their second. And those were only for the worst of the infractions.
The game quickly turned into a melee, forcing both coaches to rotate in bench players. With free kicks awarded at both ends of the field in prime scoring position, it was only a matter of time before the tie was broken.
The ‘Balers (2-5, 0-3 TCAL) narrowly missed a number of opportunities that would have given them the lead, but Live Oak was able to eventually cash in on the penalty-marred sequence.
Acorns midfielder Anthony Avalos chipped a ball in from a free kick just outside San Benito’s box in the 66th minute, a shot that may have found the net if untouched. Trujillo saw a fleet of ‘Balers and Acorns leap for a header, but couldn’t commit to make a play on the ball without knowing if it would be deflected. Hernandez, the Live Oak defender, gained redemption for his earlier non-call by grazing the ball and sending it into the left corner of the net for the go-ahead score.
The late goal and the parade of penalties ruined San Benito’s chance to tie or defeat the Acorns, but nevertheless the ‘Balers made quite a statement by keeping their TCAL rival on the ropes throughout.
“I was thinking to myself that they were going to beat us big-time,” said Martinez of his pre-game expectations. “They’re undefeated–we know they’re No. 1. I wasn’t expecting that we were going to score. I was expecting a lot more scores from them.”
San Benito survived a game-opening sequence in which the Acorns narrowly missed three point-blank shots within the first two minutes.
In the 24th minute, Nieves gave the ‘Balers the lead by taking a cross from Oscar Lostanau while running forward and used his momentum to head the ball past Live Oak goalie Sheldon Steenhuis.
Though San Benito dominated much of the first-half possession, the Acorns tied the contest 13 minutes later when Frechette took a lead pass from Avalos to power the ball into the ‘Balers’ net.
Live Oak head coach Tony Goble knew his team was fortunate to walk away with the victory and its perfect record intact.
“The other team wanted it more than we did–it was pretty obvious the entire 80 minutes,” said Goble. “I told the kids, ‘Yeah, we kind of dodged one today.'”
Despite losing its chance to upset the Acorns, San Benito took comfort in proving that it can play with the big boys.
“As high as they’re rated, it’s a confidence builder,” said Trujillo.
The ‘Balers take the field at Sobrato tomorrow, hoping that cooler heads prevail and that a victory follows.
