The San Benito Youth Soccer League’s Hollister Warriors played
two games this weekend, Saturday versus the San Jose Surge, who
shared 1st place with the Warriors with a record of 2-0, and Sunday
versus the Santa Cruz Blaze, who had a record of 1-1.
The San Benito Youth Soccer League’s Hollister Warriors played two games this weekend, Saturday versus the San Jose Surge, who shared 1st place with the Warriors with a record of 2-0, and Sunday versus the Santa Cruz Blaze, who had a record of 1-1.
Saturday’s game proved to be a challenge to the Warriors, as the Surge seemed to dominate both the offensive play as well as the defensive play of the game, leaving the final score at 4-1 and handing the Warriors their first loss this season. The Surge got on the board with their first goal in the 11th minute of play with a great some great passing and a shot past goal keeper Ashley Perreira.
The Warriors picked things up a bit and got one good shot on goal that the Surge goal keeper was able to stop. The Warriors defense also picked up, but the Surge got one more in before the half, leaving the game at half-time 2-0. The second half was dominated by the Surge again, when they scored their third goal in the 62nd minute. In the 85th minute, the Warriors got their best chance to score when Rachel Maheu kicked a corner kick right in front of the Surge goal which Brittany Huth controlled and passed to Ashlyn Gonzales, who put the ball past the Surge goalkeeper for the first goal scored on the tough Surge team this season.
The Surge was able to put one more in the net in the final minutes of the game leaving the final score 4-1. This game put the Surge in sole possession of 1st place and the Warriors in second.
Sunday’s game looked like the reverse of Saturday’s game, with the Warriors dominating the play both offensively and defensively against the Santa Cruz Blaze. The Blaze was doing their best to keep the ball out of their net, but the Warriors got their first goal in the 24th minute with a great pass up field from Sarah Mullen to center-mid Ashlyn Gonzales who scored her third goal of the season.
Six minutes later, Ashlyn put in goal number two for the Warriors, her fourth of the season, from an assist from Brittany Huth, her fourth assist of the season. Just before the half ended, Felicia Freitas put in the Warriors’ third goal of the game from another sweet pass from Huth making the score at half 3-0.
In the second half, the Blaze came out strong with a nothing-to-lose attitude while the Warriors seemed to take the game more lightly with their 3 goal lead. The Blaze put in their first goal in the 50th minute which seemed to breath life in the team as they kept pressing the Warrior’s defense with several more shots. The Warriors took back control of the game though keeping possession of the ball and keeping it primarily in the Blaze side of the field. The Blaze did get one more goal with about 4 minutes left to play from a high flying shot that goalkeeper Emily Key just missed as she jumped in the air to stop it.
The final score was 3-2, with the third win for the Warriors and a current season record of 3-1. The Warriors next game will not be until October 8th, when the Warriors will host the Santa Cruz Illusion. “All the players contributed positively in both games, and we are going to use the next three weeks wisely to prepare for the rest of the season”, said Warriors’ coach Mike Schurig.
