Coming off a spirited 2-1 win over North Salinas a few days earlier, head coach Tony Deras expected more of the same for the boys soccer team against league-rival Salinas on Thursday. Instead, though, Deras got a team not willing to try, he said.
The Balers were overwhelmed by the Salinas offensive attack and fell 2-0 in front of their home crowd.
The loss sends the Balers into second place in the Tri-County Athletic League with a 1-1 record and to a disappointing 2-4-3 overall record. Despite showing spark in some games this year, the Balers continue to have trouble in finding consistency – mostly on offense.
“We are improving on defense but the offense can’t score the ball,” he said. “Overall, the offense has been killing us all season Like I said, that’s up to them, they have to be moving. They are making it so easy for the opponent to get to them.”
Instead of moving Thursday, the Balers seemed more complacent standing still and shooting the ball down the field. And if the Balers had a man advantage driving to the goal, they didn’t pass the ball.
In the game’s opening 15 minutes, both team recieved good chances for a early goal. San Benito, behind Ricardo Roque, Kenneth Hastings and Martin Navarro, caused pressure on the outside for Salinas.
But once the Baler attack reached the net, it quickly died down.
On the other end of the field, San Benito continued its season trend of limiting opponent chances. Travis Selski, who was brought up from junior varsity earlier this year, controlled the Balers defensive attack.
Salinas finally got on the board midway through the first half, when Jose Mendoza recieved a pass down the left sideline. Mendoza, racing to the goal, went around a Baler defender and placed a perfect strike into the net.
Both teams finished the first half with the ball remaining at midfield.
In the second half, Salinas struck quickly off the foot of Carlos Espinoza. On a broken play, Espinoza gave Salinas a commanding lead.
The Balers could never gain a consistent offensive push the rest of the game. Despite a closely fought game, Deras was not pleased.
“They just need to improve on … we just need to have the heart to play soccer,” he said. “They have to have a heart to play, and they didn’t show it today. I mean even though we controlled the ball. That’s not what we’ve been practicing. It’s not the team that played against North Salinas. It was a different team.”
He continued: “There was no heart for this game. There was no effort. They didn’t try as hard as they did before.”
Regardless, the loss is something Deras needs the team to learn from.
“Unfortunately, that character is something they have to learn on their own,” he said. “You cannot coach that. They have to learn from their own mistakes.”
The Balers hope to improve Thursday, when they host Gilroy at 3:30 p.m.
