San Benito’s Shots Finally Find the Net, ‘Balers Top Sobrato
2-1
Hollister – For a while, it looked like it would be more of the same for the San Benito boys soccer team.
Despite dominating the first half against visiting Sobrato with a nearly non-stop offensive onslaught, the Haybalers just couldn’t get the ball in the net. On the heels of three consecutive losses–games which San Benito felt it controlled, but also contests in which the ‘Balers scored a total of one goal–, head coach Juan Carlos Martinez was starting to pull his hair out at his team’s inability to score.
“I was so desperate to get that score in the first half,” said Martinez. “We were getting the ball in the box, in the box … but [Sobrato’s] goalie was getting everything, and nobody was there to get the rebounds.”
Fortunately for the Haybalers and their exasperated coach, San Benito ended its scoring drought early in the second half–a turnaround which helped net the team a 2-1 victory over the Bulldogs.
“We just had to win today,” said Haybalers midfielder Armando Espinoza. “Every game is different, but we knew we beat this team before. We knew we had to win–especially at home.”
After getting an earful from its coach at halftime, San Benito came out firing in the second half.
In the 44th minute, ‘Balers forward Eddie Trujillo took a pass deep down the right side and used a stop-on-a-dime cutback to lose his Sobrato defender. Bulldogs goalie Trevor Newcomb raced out for the attempted save, but was caught in no-man’s land once he saw Trujillo stop and pass to Jaime Torres, who was wide open in front of Sobrato’s net. Torres drilled the ball into the empty goal to give the ‘Balers a 1-0 lead and a flood of energy.
“I was thinking about shooting it, but I saw [Torres] wide open,” said Trujillo, who has starred of late on offense despite beginning the season as the team’s goalie. “We got a little bit of yelling from the coach [at halftime], so we came out tougher in the second half.”
Two minutes later, San Benito (3-9-1, 2-7-1 TCAL) nearly pushed its lead to two goals on what developed as a carbon copy of its score. Trujillo shook Sobrato defender Samual Stoner and drew Newcomb out of the goal, but this time the Haybaler kept the ball and sent a shot at the empty net, only to see it roll wide left.
Javier Nieto and Espinoza had opportunities to score in the next few minutes as well, but Newcomb kept the ‘Balers at bay.
Just as the action had developed in the first half, Sobrato (1- 8-4, 0-5-4 TCAL) recovered from the flurry of San Benito shots to create its own scoring chances. The Bulldogs had four free kicks in the second half from just outside the ‘Balers’ 18-yard box, but were unable to convert any for a score.
With seven minutes left to play, disaster almost struck for San Benito. After Haybaler defender Alden Wiltse was called for an illegal throw-in deep in San Benito territory–stopping to argue with the referee and receive first a yellow and then a red card–Sobrato took advantage of the opportunity.
Quickly picking up the ball, Bulldogs forward Murilo Almeida used a throw-in to find midfielder Victor Iracheta, who had snuck behind the ‘Balers’ defense. Iracheta powered a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that soared over San Benito goalie Randall Lopez’ fingertips, but the shot was too high.
Seconds later, the Haybalers got some insurance as they used a score by Giovanni Ramirez on a San Benito free kick to push their lead to 2-0.
That goal turned out to be critical, as Sobrato came right back to score in the 76th minute on a beautiful cross from Jesus Del Real, but San Benito’s offensive awakening proved enough to get the ‘Balers the win.
“It’s been hard for us to keep pushing forward, not scoring [much] the last three games,” said San Benito assistant coach Jesus Medrano. “We were dominating most of the time, but we couldn’t score. We knew we were playing better, but it wasn’t showing up in the results.”
Sobrato, which has had several strong showing in its games, only to end up with ties instead of wins, walked away from yet another game without that elusive first league victory.
“It’s always just that last little push,” said Newcomb, the Bulldogs goalie. “We can never get that.”
San Benito, on the other hand, was thrilled to see its efforts rewarded with a victory, its second in TCAL play. With two games remaining, the ‘Balers hope they can maintain that winning feeling.
“We needed that,” said Martinez, whose team also won 2-1 at Sobrato on Jan. 12. “We needed that.”
San Benito visits Salinas tomorrow at 5:00pm and concludes its season against Palma at the Salinas Sports Complex on Tuesday.
