Pacific Collegiate takes sole possession of first place in the
CAL with 3-0 win against Anzar Thursday
SANTA CRUZ
Pacific Collegiate wasn’t going to get burned by Anzar’s Juan Carlos Vega again.
The freshman forward, who scored twice in a 4-3 win against Pacific Collegiate earlier this season and has since racked up 13 goals on the year, was blanketed with defenders Thursday when the Hawks visited Santa Cruz.
“They were on him and they were tall guys,” Anzar head coach Carlos Zepeda said. “He had two opportunities in the second half, and he barely missed them.
“But we just couldn’t put it in. Small mistakes.”
In a key game that will go a long way in determining the Coastal Athletic League champion, host Pacific Collegiate shutout Anzar 3-0 Thursday.
The Hawks are now 5-2 in the CAL, and sit in second place behind Pacific Collegiate (5-1-2).
“This game was very key to us,” Zepeda said.
Anzar has three games remaining, two against Pacific Grove and another against York, both of which have matching 4-2-1 records in the CAL this season.
Pacific Collegiate, on the other hand, has two games remaining against Calvary Christian and Marina, neither of which have recorded a league win this season.
“We’ve got to win all three games,” Zepeda said. Doing so would give Anzar a slight one-point edge in the standings, and the CAL crown.
On Thursday, though, Pacific Collegiate took sole possession of first place in the league behind three goals, two of which came off of free kicks.
“We were dominating the first 25 minutes of the game, but just one simple mistake cost us a goal,” Zepeda said.
The Pumas were awarded a free kick from straight on in the 25th minute and capitalized when Anzar’s goalie misplayed the live ball, giving Pacific Collegiate a 1-0 lead.
It stayed that way until the 60th minute when Anzar was called for tripping inside the penalty box. The Pumas capitalized once again by connecting on the PK and taking a 2-0 lead late in the game.
“I decided to go offensive in the second half,” Zepeda said. “But from that point on, we went down.”
With Anzar only playing three defenders late in the game, the Pumas took advantage and tacked on one more goal in the 65th minute to make it a three-goal lead.
It was the first time the Hawks have been shutout since the season opener against Stevenson.
Anzar will host Pacific Grove on Monday before traveling to Pacific Grove on Tuesday.
Both games will start at 3:30 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 F
ANZ 0 0 0
PCS 1 2 3
