EXHALE! LATE FLURRY SENDS FISH TO WIN
Astoria was winning its match with Tillamook long before the scoreboard reflected that fact on Wednesday.
It took awhile, but Astoria's Josimar Macareno finally cracked the seal on the Tillamook goal and the Fishermen quickly pulled away in the second half for a 4-1 victory over the Cheesemakers to improve to 7-0 in the Cowapa League.
Tillamook, a first-year varsity program playing without its leading scorer, proved to be a reslient opponent as the Cheesemakers survived wave after wave of Astoria attacks.
"Soccer is a funny game that way," said assistant coach Gordon Thomsen. "In football if you turn it over in the red zone a bunch of times and don't score you can dominate statistically and still not win and that's what we were doing."
"We were getting frustrated and we're shooting a lot of deep shots instead of making the extra pass."
The Fishermen peppered the Cheesemakers' goal with shots, beginning right off the opening kickoff, but had trouble getting strong finishes as the Tillamook goalkeeper Noe Mendez collected eight 1st-half saves on 17 Astoria shots. Only one time did he have to leave his feet, however, as most the shots trickled or floated right to the freshman goalie and the teams went to the sidelined in a scoreless draw at the half.
Astoria goalkeeper Daniel Mathre was well-rested in the second half as Tillamook had just two shots in the first 40 minutes, both of which were outside the goal frame.
Tillamook actually got two early shots in the second half forcing Mathre to make a play. Meanwhile, Astoria continued to work the ball beautifully into open spaces and play around the Tillamook penalty area without getting a quality strike.
Then, in the 58th minute of play, Michael Price carried the ball into the attacking half and fed a pass to Josimar Macareno making a run on the left wing. Macareno turned the corner on his defender and ripped a low diagonal left-footed shot to the far post, just off the fingertips of Mendez and into the netting for Astoria's first goal.
"I felt like once we got one the kids' confidence would go up," said Thomsen. "It's frustrating for the kids because they're doing great things on the field and its not reflected on the scoreboard."
Confidence restored, within five minutes Astoria had two more goals on the board. After a superb turning volley by junior Erik Sanchez ricocheted hard off the right post, Christoph Mundt controlled the ball and fed Luke McCallister for a close-range goal in the 61st minute. Mundt would score again right off the Tillamook kickoff, carrying the ball straight upfield and past two Tillamook defenders before firing a low knuckler past Mendez for a 3-0 lead at minute 62.
Tillamook would get into the act a minute later. After a handball just past midfield, the Cheesemakers' free kick deflected loose in the penalty box where freshman midfielder Miguel Lozano put a quick boot on, lifting a high hard one over Mathre and under the bar for Tillamook's only goal.
Astoria had a number of other shot opportunities in the final minutes and ended up scoring a late goal in extra time off backup keeper Jesus Valencia after Mendez left the game following a collision. Macareno had an open run in space, but passed up an easy shot to feed teammate Kyle McMullen with a perfect cross to the far post for a point blank volley finish.
Astoria outshot Tillamook 35-to-7 in the contest to improve to 8-0-1 overall. Mathre had three saves, all in the second half. Mendez ended up with 13 saves and Valencia recorded two more saves before the final whistle.
Tillamook's Julian Alcarez, who had scored six of the Cheesemakers nine goals entering the contest, was unable to play after suffering an ankle sprain against Seaside.
Astoria got some good news from the doctor. Senior forward K.J. Speer, out since the Seaside game with a knee injury, hopefully will be able to return by the final Seaside match later this month after being diagnosed with a strained anterior cruciate ligament and a bone bruise. Goalkeeper Gabe Davis will be sidelined at least the rest of the month with a torn quadriceps muscle and will be reassessed on Nov. 2, possibly returning for the playoffs. On the negative side, defender Steven Wentworth returned to the lineup, but aggravated a quadriceps injury and had to leave the game after less than ten minutes.
Astoria will return to action next Tuesday with the second of three games against Seaside, scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff.
It took awhile, but Astoria's Josimar Macareno finally cracked the seal on the Tillamook goal and the Fishermen quickly pulled away in the second half for a 4-1 victory over the Cheesemakers to improve to 7-0 in the Cowapa League.
Tillamook, a first-year varsity program playing without its leading scorer, proved to be a reslient opponent as the Cheesemakers survived wave after wave of Astoria attacks.
"Soccer is a funny game that way," said assistant coach Gordon Thomsen. "In football if you turn it over in the red zone a bunch of times and don't score you can dominate statistically and still not win and that's what we were doing."
"We were getting frustrated and we're shooting a lot of deep shots instead of making the extra pass."
The Fishermen peppered the Cheesemakers' goal with shots, beginning right off the opening kickoff, but had trouble getting strong finishes as the Tillamook goalkeeper Noe Mendez collected eight 1st-half saves on 17 Astoria shots. Only one time did he have to leave his feet, however, as most the shots trickled or floated right to the freshman goalie and the teams went to the sidelined in a scoreless draw at the half.
Astoria goalkeeper Daniel Mathre was well-rested in the second half as Tillamook had just two shots in the first 40 minutes, both of which were outside the goal frame.
Tillamook actually got two early shots in the second half forcing Mathre to make a play. Meanwhile, Astoria continued to work the ball beautifully into open spaces and play around the Tillamook penalty area without getting a quality strike.
Then, in the 58th minute of play, Michael Price carried the ball into the attacking half and fed a pass to Josimar Macareno making a run on the left wing. Macareno turned the corner on his defender and ripped a low diagonal left-footed shot to the far post, just off the fingertips of Mendez and into the netting for Astoria's first goal.
"I felt like once we got one the kids' confidence would go up," said Thomsen. "It's frustrating for the kids because they're doing great things on the field and its not reflected on the scoreboard."
Confidence restored, within five minutes Astoria had two more goals on the board. After a superb turning volley by junior Erik Sanchez ricocheted hard off the right post, Christoph Mundt controlled the ball and fed Luke McCallister for a close-range goal in the 61st minute. Mundt would score again right off the Tillamook kickoff, carrying the ball straight upfield and past two Tillamook defenders before firing a low knuckler past Mendez for a 3-0 lead at minute 62.
Tillamook would get into the act a minute later. After a handball just past midfield, the Cheesemakers' free kick deflected loose in the penalty box where freshman midfielder Miguel Lozano put a quick boot on, lifting a high hard one over Mathre and under the bar for Tillamook's only goal.
Astoria had a number of other shot opportunities in the final minutes and ended up scoring a late goal in extra time off backup keeper Jesus Valencia after Mendez left the game following a collision. Macareno had an open run in space, but passed up an easy shot to feed teammate Kyle McMullen with a perfect cross to the far post for a point blank volley finish.
Astoria outshot Tillamook 35-to-7 in the contest to improve to 8-0-1 overall. Mathre had three saves, all in the second half. Mendez ended up with 13 saves and Valencia recorded two more saves before the final whistle.
Tillamook's Julian Alcarez, who had scored six of the Cheesemakers nine goals entering the contest, was unable to play after suffering an ankle sprain against Seaside.
Astoria got some good news from the doctor. Senior forward K.J. Speer, out since the Seaside game with a knee injury, hopefully will be able to return by the final Seaside match later this month after being diagnosed with a strained anterior cruciate ligament and a bone bruise. Goalkeeper Gabe Davis will be sidelined at least the rest of the month with a torn quadriceps muscle and will be reassessed on Nov. 2, possibly returning for the playoffs. On the negative side, defender Steven Wentworth returned to the lineup, but aggravated a quadriceps injury and had to leave the game after less than ten minutes.
Astoria will return to action next Tuesday with the second of three games against Seaside, scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff.
posted by Matt Richert at 6:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home