Make it two in a row for the Hollister High boy booters, who
blanked host Branham 2-0 Wednesday in San Jose.
Make it two in a row for the Hollister High boy booters, who blanked host Branham 2-0 Wednesday in San Jose.
Hollister (2-0-1) came out strong, led by a strong defense, which shut down the 4-4-2 offensive scheme implemented by the Bruins (5-3-1).
The Balers wore down the Bruins with two-touch passes and quickness as the ball was constantly in motion.
Hollister was delivered a scare early in the match when speedy fullback Willie Sanchez went down with a bloody nose. Matters became worse when forward Isidro Trujillo had to leave the game permanently with a forearm injury.
“Our bench performed admirably,” said Baler head coach Michael Warner.
Meanwhile, Sanchez returned to play in the second half, while Trujillo’s status is doubtful for today’s match at Piedmont Hills.
“I’m going to try to play,” Trujillo said Wednesday evening by telephone. “I fell down on it. It might be sprained. It hurts like heck.”
After a flurry of shots, Brian Vargas broke free and tallied in the 34th minute on a nice feed from Nick Vandenberg. Vandenberg was double-teamed and fould Vargas crossing in the middle of the box. Vargas shed a defender then juked the goalie before slamming his shot into the corner of the net.
Vargas added another goal in the 75th minute to ice the match when scored on a long ball from Geraldo Lostanau in the middle.
The defense took it from there, limiting the Bruins to six shots the entire match.
“We’re gaining confidence in our two-pass system,” said Warner. “The defense is no longer a concern.”
Junior varsity: The Baler JV’s won 3-1. Defenders Kevin Vieirra, Jose Sanchez, Arturro Ceja and Oscar Sanchez shut out the Bruins except for an early penalty kick. Goal scorers for the Balers were Sergio Lostanau, who had two goals, and Joel Aguilar.
“We played better as a unit,” said coach Paul Bellar. “The defense was solid, but we’re still learning to play for a full 80 minutes.”
Baler bit: Trujillo spent last weekend at the 3.1-mile national Foot Locker race at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC). Trujillo placed 28th with a time of 17:29. – The Balers are at Palo Alto Saturday in another non-league match, which starts at 1:15 p.m.
