The San Benito boys soccer team wrapped up its preseason
schedule with a 2-2 tie against Monterey Bay League powerhouse
Alisal
San Benito (3-4-1) will begin league play at Live Oak on Jan. 9,
while the girls team will also be tested by Live Oak in the first
league game Jan. 8.
The San Benito boys soccer team wrapped up its preseason schedule with a 2-2 tie against Monterey Bay League powerhouse Alisal
San Benito (3-4-1) will begin league play at Live Oak on Jan. 9, while the girls team will also be tested by Live Oak in the first league game Jan. 8.
“This was a benchmark game for us to measure our progress and desire to play with the top teams in our league,” said coach Mike Warner. “I think our kids made a real statement, and we look forward to working on improving our play for our opening match at Live Oak.”
Alisal (5-0-4) made several good runs at the goal early on but couldn’t get any shots on goal. The Trojans ran a little wall pass on the left corner of the box and used Willie Sanchez as a screen to score in the 23rd minute.
Goalie Jorge Medina never saw the shot until it went past him. He was playing with a sore neck but was still able to gobble up several tough shots.
That goal seemed to make the Balers a more determined team not to let the game get out of hand, and the defense stiffened, Warner said.
The Balers lost senior Jonathan Alonso early in the game due to a sore knee that was spiked in the previous game.
Foreign exchange student Fausto Andrade, the newest player on the team, was finally cleared for the game. He replaced Alonso in the 17th minute.
Andrade played the entire rest of the game and gave glimpses of what is to come with perfect feeds to the forwards and touch passes to the halfbacks.
“He needs some playing time for the players to become accustomed to his touch on the ball,” Warner said. “He is a smart player and will make us a much stronger team as he blends his style of play into our system.”
Both teams exchanged a series of offense runs in the first half. The second half started under darkening skies and high winds.
The Balers switched back to their familiar 4-3-3 to generate more offense, and it worked. Junior Martin Medina placed a perfect shot into the net, freezing the Alisal keeper to knot the score at 1-1. That goal was the first goal of the year for the left-footed Medina.
The Balers applied both offensive and defensive pressure and seemed to have the Trojans on the ropes, but then this high-scoring team (24 goals in nine games) broke through on a swift shake-and-roll move to free up space and placed the ball under the goalie.
With about 20 minutes to go in a fine rain and strong wind, senior Jorge Lopez blasted a shot into the top left corner on a perfect feed by Genaro Zaragoza during a hard-fought scramble in front of the net to tie the score.
JV Note: The Balers suffered a disappointing loss 4-2 to Alisal Friday afternoon under wet conditions.
With their ranks thinned due to flu and early family vacations, the Balers found themselves down by two goals at the end of the first half before finding their game.
Armando Espinoza scored his third goal in two days 10 minutes into the second half to bring the Balers closer.
The speed and depth of Alisal generated two more goals before Joel Aguilar took a breakaway pass with eight minutes left in the game to cap the scoring.
The solid defense of Eduardo Trujillo and Ramon Orozco and smart goalkeeping of Jose Valdez kept the game competitive, said coach Graham Wright.
The Balers (3-4-1) are eager to return to full strength after the holidays and begin league play Jan. 9.
