Cervantes' hat trick pushes East a step closer to SEYL title
| Wednesday, Feb 08 2012 11:09 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Feb 08 2012 11:11 PM
Everything went exactly as Angel Cervantes wanted it to on Wednesday night. The senior forward met his goal-scoring objectives and his East High team claimed a crucial 4-2 Southeast Yosemite League soccer victory over visiting Foothill.
Cervantes scored three goals, boosting his total to 21 for the season, as the Blades put themselves in position to win their first league title since 1985.
"I got the hat trick but I was just going for the two to get to 20," Cervantes said. "I did it for my team, mostly. If I would have scored one goal as long as we won I would have been happy with that."
Foothill started off strong and took a 1-0 lead on Manny Contreras' goal in the seventh minute.
But after that it was all East as Cervantes went on a tear, scoring three times in just over 40 minutes of action.
After tying things with a short strike midway through the first half, Cervantes gave the Blades the lead for good in the 41st minute with a blast from the left side of the box.
"No disrespect to anybody because there's some great players, but Angel Cervantes to is the best striker in town," East coach Marty Martinez said. "He's legit. We asked him to take the game over tonight and he did."
Carlos Grande had two assists for East, which won for a fourth straight time and avenged a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Trojans three weeks ago.
"We started off a little sloppy and started losing, but we got it together," Cervantes said. "We started working as a team, got a few chances, and we finished them."
Foothill, North, and East came into the night in a close three-way battle for the SEYL title. However, after Wednesday night's results, including a North 2-1 overtime victory over Highland, the league championship will be decided tonight when the Stars host the Blades in a winner-take-all match-up.
North, which leads the SEYL with 16 points, can also secure the SEYL crown with a draw against the Blades, who have 14 points. Foothill has 15 points but finished its slate of league games with the loss on Wednesday night.
"I think our team played pretty flat tonight," Foothill coach Steve Landerdahl said," East was definitely a lot more hungry for the win than our team was."
