Golden Valley holds off Mira Monte in SYL battle
| Tuesday, Jan 31 2012 10:55 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jan 31 2012 10:59 PM
Images
Mira Monte vs GV Boy's Soccer Golden Valley's #19 Jesus Campos fights over the ball against Mira Monte's #7 Abel Gonzalez
Mira Monte vs GV Boy's Soccer #8 Anthony Gonzalez of Mira Monte gets a flat top heading the ball against Julian Zamora #13 of Golden Vallley.
Mira Monte vs GV Boy's Soccer Goalie for Golden Valley Adrian Torres almost gets hit by #10 Ramiro Montero of Mira Monte in the second half at Golden Valley High School.
Mira Monte vs GV Boy's Soccer #9 Kevin Hernandez of Golden Valley battles #18 Cervando Nunez of Mira Monte for control of the ball.
Special to The Californian
Adrian Torres' brilliant save in stoppage time denied Mira Monte the equalizer and the chance at evening the season series, as Golden Valley's boys soccer team held on for a 1-0 victory Tuesday at Bulldog Stadium.
"Tonight's game was up and down, and both teams played a great up-tempo game,"Golden Valley coach Troy Lynch said. "Our guys played good in the back, and both of our keepers came up with some huge saves."
After the Bulldogs (15-3-4, 3-1-1 South Yosemite League) took a 1-0 lead on Jesus Campos' lone goal at the 58- minute mark, the Lions were forced to push up into an offensive posture, and got one last opportunity on a long throw-in from Anthony Gonzalez to Cervando Nunez. But his close-range bicycle kick in the penalty area was scooped up by Torres for his third save of the game.
"We have a lot of talent on this team, but they just haven't put it together so far," Lynch said. "We've had some lackluster games, and we talked about that tonight, and I do believe we won this one because we played with more heart."
The match began with a slow pace as the two rivals saw equal possession time as they played tentative through the first six minutes.
Then in the 8th minute, the deadlock appeared to be broken as Mira Monte's Cervando Nunez' free-kick from 40 yards sailed by outstretched keeper Manual Cordoza and into the back of the net.
But the Lions' celebration was cut short when the goal was waived off due to an offside infraction.
From there, both sides continued battling in the midfield, with Mira Monte placing the match's first shot on goal at the 20-minute mark, when Abel Gonzalez' shot shaved the far post.
Golden Valley answered back with its first quality shot from Elizar Torres five minutes later, but it was knocked wide by Mira Monte keeper Ramiro Olide.
From there, the Lions (2-1-3 SYL) went on the attack, first on Uriel Gonzalez' breakaway shot that sailed just wide, before Ramiro Montero corralled a loose ball, and shooting off-balance, sent one off the near post after beating Cordoza.
Although Mira Monte outshot the Bulldogs 4-1 in the first 40 minutes, the sides remained scoreless at the half.
The second half began much like the first, with neither team mounting any sustained pressure, until Fabien Solorio nearly increased Golden Valley's lead to two goals at the 65-minute mark, if not for a spectacular diving save by Olide.
After playing their first four league games on the road, the Bulldogs will play the remainder of their schedule at home.
Lynch says the team must take advantage if they want to remain in the thick of the playoff hunt.
One of those games will be against first-place West.
"We didn't show very well the first time we played West, but I have a lot of confidence in this team," Lynch said. "We look forward to playing them again, and we'll have to see how bad our seniors really want it."
