Drillers knock off previously unbeaten Golden Valley, 2-1
| Wednesday, Jan 28 2009 02:30 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:32 PM
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Bakersfield's Alex Mitchell (8) and Golden Valley's Juan Alvarado (2) battle for the ball during the first half at Bakersfield High Tuesday night. BHS upset the Bulldogs 2-1 in a Southeast Yosemite League game
Bakersfield High's Jose Hernandez goes for a header in the first half against Golden Valley on Tuesday night.
For the Bakersfield High boys soccer team, a draw against Golden Valley wasn't going to be enough of a statement.
Thanks to some late heroics from Jose Hernandez and Drew Clemans, it didn't have to be.
The Drillers surprised previously unbeaten Golden Valley 2-1 on Tuesday night at home, getting two second-half goals and Clemans' late penalty-kick save.
"Golden Valley is always the big guy in soccer," Clemans said. "BHS, all we're known for is football, so it's good to get heard from and giving Golden Valley their first loss of the season."
And though Bakersfield (11-6-1, 5-3-0 Southeast Yosemite League) likely won't catch Golden Valley (18-1-3, 6-1-1) or new co-leader Highland (6-1-1) in the league standings, the victory does give the Drillers some momentum heading into the playoffs.
"If you take those guys down ever, it's a great win," Bakersfield coach Archie Parks said. "... The longer the season goes on, the better we get."
Last year, BHS upset Stockdale at Liberty on the road on their way to the Division I Central Section semifinals. This year, a similar-caliber win could propel them this far.
It nearly didn't happen. The Drillers were without their best midfielders, Greg Quintero (injury) and Reymundo Juarez (yellow-card suspension), and played what Parks called "our worst first half of the season."
"Honestly, we came in thinking we were going to get thumped," Parks said.
But Golden Valley only led 1-0 at the half, on a goal by Eric Chavarin.
"This is overdue with the lackluster practices we've had," Golden Valley coach Troy Lynch said. "Our guys were just going through the motions, and they thought 1-0 was going to enough. BHS is too good of a team to do that to."
Bakersfield took momentum in the second half, outplaying the Bulldogs for long stretches of the second half and equalizing when Morgan Barnes poked home a rebound in the 57th minute.
Golden Valley turned up the heat, but Bakersfield held tough until Hernandez sped through the Bulldogs defense on a through ball and flicked it past goalkeeper Edgar Valladolid, who had come far off the goal line.
"We've had some bitter losses, where we might have out-played teams and still lost," Parks said. "... (A draw) would have been disappointing."
It still wasn't over, not until Golden Valley drew a penalty kick in extra time. But BHS was ready for this too. Clemans -- who missed the second half of BHS' earlier loss to Golden Valley with a concussion -- dove to his left and smothered Chavarin's effort.
"I pretty much told the guys, 'No stupid fouls,' and then what happens?" Clemans said. "But I just watched (Chavarin's) body language and came up with it. Having the ball in my hands was amazing."
