Speedy Chieftains team drops San Benito 5-1 in Tri-County
Athletic League opener
SALINAS
Speed kills.
And the Palma Chieftains had a few ways of showing that Thursday against San Benito in the Tri-County Athletic League opener in Salinas.
Blessed with a speedy front line, the Chieftains utilized their artificial turf playing surface and scored the first goal within 10 minutes of play, then tacked on two more goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half and breezed past the Haybalers 5-1.
Playing in their third game already this week, the ‘Balers fall to 0-1 in the TCAL, 3-5 overall.
“They were way too fast,” San Benito head coach Ramiro Ramos said. “I kind of knew that coming in here that they’d be fast, and I was trying to get my guys to keep it on the ground.
“We started playing their game right away.”
Despite an evenly matched first half, the ‘Balers went to the break trailing 1-nil after Palma’s Conor Boulger scored the first of his two goals in the 8th minute of regulation.
Coming out of the half, the Chieftains tacked on another goal in the 43rd minute when Boulger corralled a rebound and pocketed his second score into the right side of the net.
It was essentially a 2-on-1 scenario, though, as San Benito was trying an offside trap. But one San Benito defender didn’t push out quick enough, and two Palma forwards attacked the net for a 2-0 lead.
“We got caught,” Ramos said. “They were so fast. They were already on it.”
The Chieftains displayed their sheer speed on their next two goals – both breakaway goals, more or less – in the 50th and 55th minutes as Daniel Johnsen and Matt Ostarello, respectively, each had one defender to beat and each pulled away for a goal.
The shorthanded Haybalers were without the services of starting sweeper Carlos Ramirez, though, while they also lost senior Nik Soza to a left ankle injury in the first half.
“But we were always chasing after them,” Ramos said, “and it was hard to catch up …”
San Benito got on the board in the 72nd minute after forward Alex Castillo passed back to mid Andres Hurtado on the left side. Hurtado, from approximately 20 yards out, rifled a shot off the right post and into the net to cut Palma’s lead to 4-1.
But the Chieftains were relentless in their attack, as Dylan Lee added another breakaway goal in the 77th minute to put Palma up 5-1.
With the win, Palma evens their TCAL record at 1-1 after having fallen to Salinas by a 2-1 margin on Tuesday. They will host Pacific Grove on Saturday.
San Benito will have plenty of time to regroup, however. The ‘Balers aren’t scheduled to play again until Jan. 6, 2009 when the Alisal Trojans will visit Hollister.
Match time is 3:30 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 F
SAN 0 1 1
PAL 1 4 5
