Three late goals propel ‘Balers to 4-1 win over Hawks in
opener
San Juan Bautista – The final 20 minutes of Wednesday’s girls soccer game between Anzar and San Benito proved to be the critical time.
The Hawks, who had matched wits with the ‘Balers for the first 60 minutes, saw San Benito score three times in an eight-minute stretch late in the game to grab a 4-1 win in the season-opener for both teams.
“We were completely different in those last 20 minutes,” ‘Balers coach Mike Schurig said. “It was really exciting to see.”
While his team wasn’t able to hold on in the end, new Anzar coach Deric McLean was thrilled with his team’s performance.
“I’m extremely happy. They looked fantastic,” McLean said. “This is a group of girls that has never played in any sort of a system and we’re trying to institute one. We’ve been working with them for a short amount of time and already, we’ve never seen anything like this on the Anzar field.”
Despite outshooting the Hawks 9-4 in the first half, the ‘Balers couldn’t find the back of the net thanks to a couple terrific saves by Anzar goalkeeper Jaclyn Wiley and the game went into halftime in a scoreless tie.
San Benito finally broke through early in the second half, when junior Rachel Maheu broke free and fielded a pass from sophomore Christiana Perez and knocked it in for a 1-0 lead.
But Anzar fought right back. Five minutes later, Sara Chatley fired a shot from left of the goal to the far right corner and into the net to tie the game up at 1-1.
The score stayed knotted up until the 68th minute. San Benito junior Janessa Gillies fired a corner kick that freshman Sophie Coelho headed in for her first goal of her young ‘Baler career.
The ‘Balers lengthened the lead when senior Brittany Huth scored unassisted on a free kick and they put it away when sophomore Yaira Lizarraga added a late goal off assists from freshmen Samantha Moreno and Coelho.
“That’s a very positive thing,” Schurig said of his team’s ability to finish off the game. “That’s one of the best Anzar teams I’ve seen.”
For the Hawks, it was a performance that even McLean was surprised by.
“We’re probably a month and a half ahead of schedule,” he said.
JV NOTE: The ‘Balers and Hawks JV teams also hooked up in preseason action. San Benito won 3-0.
