It’s not every day that a team opens its season with one of the
biggest games of the year.
Hollister – It’s not every day that a team opens its season with one of the biggest games of the year.
But on Tuesday, the San Benito Lady ‘Balers played their season-opener, as well as their league-opener, and swum away in winning style, holding on to a narrow 12-9 win over the rival Salinas Cowboys.
“This is an extreme win for us,” said senior Jayme Telles. “We all gave 110 percent and it paid off. This helps up get one step closer to winning league.”
The Lady ‘Balers finished one spot ahead of Salinas last season, nabbing second place in the Tri-County Athletic League. However, while the Cowboys entered the match with a 2-1 overall record, this was San Benito’s first game, and players felt they were at a disadvantage entering the contest.
Of course, the Lady ‘Balers played with a home-pool advantage.
“It was probably one of the biggest [games] of the year,” said Coach Lacey Sutton. “They were a faster team than we were but we wanted it more.
“It was a rivalry that we had been playing up since the first day we announced teams. They knew it was going to be one of the biggest games of the year, and it was to our advantage that it was at home.”
With Salinas’ experience and speed, San Benito knew the game would be won or lost on defense. In the first quarter, despite Salinas taking a 1-0 lead, the Lady ‘Balers used their defense to keep the Cowboys at bay.
At the four-minute mark in the first, the San Benito defense pushed the Cowboys further and further back, until they were eventually in their zone when the 35-second clock expired.
The Lady ‘Balers then capitalized on the defensive effort when Ronnie Stern scored one of her two goals at 3:14 to give San Benito a 2-1 lead. Later, with under a minute to play in the first, Katie Buzzetta threw a rocket at the goal that hit the crossbar. Teammate Kelsey Russell, though, picked up the rebound and found the net with 31 seconds remaining to give San Benito a 6-2 lead after seven minutes.
“We came out fired up and we had a lot of good shots from Ronnie Stern,” Sutton said. “[The defense] played a huge part. It was all about defense in that game for us. Since they were faster, our defense did have to step it up and get a lot of balls.”
Both teams exchanged goals in the second, but with a somewhat comfortable 9-4 lead heading to the second half, the Lady ‘Balers began to let the Cowboys back into the game.
After Buzzetta scored a goal to start the third, the Cowboys scored five unanswered goals, with Jordan Bell and Michelle Conte each pocketing two goals a piece to cut the San Benito lead to 10-9 with three minutes remaining.
But that’s as close as Salinas would come, as Telles iced the game when she scored one of her two goals with two minutes left in regulation.
“Knowing we had to step up our game, it all got us ready for the game,” Telles said. “The defense was definitely a big part of the game. We all did a tremendous job.”
Buzzetta and Lila Yoldi led the Lady ‘Balers with three goals each. While Summer Thomas supplied a goal as well, San Benito’s defense was anchored by strong goaltending from Sarah Yoldi.
Salinas’ Bell had a game-high five goals.
The Lady ‘Balers (1-0) will play in the Clovis Tournament in Fresno this weekend, and will return home on Wednesday, Sept. 19, to battle Monterey.
“We’re not going to let down,” Telles added. “We’re gonna keep playing our hardest and play our best for the rest of the season.”
