San Benito allows two quick goals in 4-1 loss
Hollister – The San Benito boys soccer team hadn’t played in more than 3 1/2 weeks and was missing two defensive starters when it took the field at home Wednesday against Alvarez.
It showed.
The Haybalers allowed two quick goals and found themselves down by four at halftime before falling to the Eagles 4-1 to drop to 0-2-1 in Tri-County Athletic League play.
“Mistakes killed us,” San Benito coach Juan Carlos Martinez said. “Our defenders played (bad). I wasn’t expecting that.”
Missing from the lineup was defensive captain Christian Mercado and fellow starter Jesus Rios, who are both still in Mexico where they went during the school’s winter break.
“I had to change some players positions,” said Martinez, who most notably had senior forward Eddie Trujillo begin the game as a defender. “It hurt us but they’ve got to play where the coach tells them.”
The ‘Balers hadn’t play since Dec. 15 against Gilroy, when an impressive effort resulted in a 1-1 tie against the league favorites.
“I give credit to Alvarez, they’re a good team,” Martinez said. “But if we played like we played against Gilroy, we beat them.”
Besides the missing players, San Benito was also victimized by the long layoff in which Martinez said he only had about six to seven players attending practice.
“They were out of shape, they were tired out there,” he said.
Alvarez had also been out of action since Dec. 15, when it beat North Salinas 11-0, but the long break appeared to have no ill effects on the Eagles.
Two minutes into the game, Eric Duenas fired a cross pass to Carlos Acevedo and he punched it in for a 1-0 Alvarez lead. Two minutes later the Eagles made it 2-0 when Victor Alvarez took what seemed to be a harmless shot from about 20 yards out, but it found the back of the net to put the ‘Balers in a quick hole.
San Benito steadied the Alvarez attack and in the 12th minute had a chance to narrow the deficit. Efrain Magallon had the ball controlled in front of the net, but he couldn’t get off a strong kick and the Eagles got the save and cleared the ball out.
Alvarez then blew the game open late in the first half. In the 28th minute, Acevedo fielded a through ball and dribbled past a San Benito defender and fired a shot as he was sliding to the ground and it found the net for a 3-0 lead.
Three minutes later, Duenas added a goal to put the game out of reach.
The ‘Balers picked up the play in the second half and Colin Kay got San Benito on the board 10 minutes in with a goal, but that was as close as it would get.
“The second half was way better, but we still can’t put the ball in the net,” Martinez said.
