In a game that proved to be a matter of taking advantage of
opportunities, Carmel did and San Benito didn’t, and the Padres
came away with a 3-1 win in non-league boys soccer action
Tuesday.
Hollister – In a game that proved to be a matter of taking advantage of opportunities, Carmel did and San Benito didn’t, and the Padres came away with a 3-1 win in non-league boys soccer action Tuesday.
The ‘Balers outshot Carmel 15-8 in the first half and 28-13 for the game, but the Padres found the back of the net each time they had a good look to earn the win.
“It was frustrating because of the missing shots,” coach Juan Carlos Martinez said. “We just couldn’t score. We were controlling the ball, but that doesn’t win the game.”
San Benito had four solid opportunities to take the lead in the first half.
In the fourth minute, a header by Oscar Lostanau went just over the goal. In the 13th minute, Eddie Trujillo had a point-blank shot stopped by Carmel goalkeeper Devon Blackburn and Armando Espinoza’s rebound attempt was just high.
Espinoza fed Trujillo a pass in the 22nd minute but Trujillo’s shot also missed high and in the 30th minute Jose Grandaos dribbled the ball down the field and passed to Trujillo, whose shot hit the right post.
The Padres only legitimate scoring chance in the first half came in the sixth minute when Andrew Melendrez fired a shot off the post on a breakaway.
But in the second half, Carmel took advantage of its chances. Adam Parker gave the Padres the lead in the 48th minute when his header off a John Strutner corner kick found the back of the net.
Eight minutes later, Parker returned the favor when he assisted Strutner on a goal to make it 2-0 Carmel.
The ‘Balers finally responded in the 61st minute. Lostanau received a cross pass from the left side from Fernando Leon and scored to cut it to 2-1.
Five minutes later, San Benito had a chance to tie it but Trujillo’s header went high over the net.
Carmel then put the game away in the 68th minute when Melendrez scored off Parker’s second assist of the game to give the Padres a two-goal lead.
“They had three opportunities to score, they scored three times. We had 20, we scored one,” Martinez said. “We need to work on putting the ball in the net. Once we do that, we’ll get confidence.”
