By CLAIRE CRUZ | Special to the Star
The win-or-go-home nature of a playoff game brings about many emotions, that was evident on Thursday night as San Benito and Donna North battled in a bi-district contest.
Both teams started a bit slow and things got rowdy late, but the experienced Chiefs handled the pressure better and went on to earn a 3-0 victory.
“ We were a little bit nervous at the beginning, the kids were having a hard time controlling the possession of the ball,” Donna North head coach Andres Sanchez said. “San Benito was very physical and very fast, so it made it hard on our defense for several moments. But at the end we were able to handle the ball better and once we did that we were okay.”
The Chiefs missed high on several goal attempts early on before finding the net with 10:16 remaining in the first half. Senior striker Luis Olivas drove to the goal and scored from just left of the penalty mark, past the prematurely diving arms of San Benito senior goalkeeper Gonzalo Villarreal.
San Benito almost tied things up just before halftime as Senovio Cerdan used his speed to break away and sent a hard kick to the net, but Donna North junior keeper Diego Preciado dove to his right for a save.
Donna North came out in the second half determined to build its lead. The increase in tempo caused the young Greyhound squad to start racking up penalties, which gave the Chiefs’ offense opportunities it took advantage of.
“ We discussed it in halftime, not to wait and to attack them,” Sanchez said. “That’s what we do best, go and look for opportunities. We were not going to stay with one goal.”
At the 28:40 mark, junior defender Alex Flores took a penalty kick and Villarreal made an impressive diving stop, but the rebound went right back to Flores and he scored. Less than two minutes later, Olivas recorded his second goal of the night to build the Chiefs’ lead to 3-0.
The young Greyhound squad started to lose its composure as time ran down. They had some good shot attempts, but an abundance of penalties and yellow cards helped seal the Chiefs’ win.
“ I’m proud of my kids, we’re a young team and I couldn’t ask for anything more than they did, they gave it their all,” San Benito head coach William Huerta said. “We made our mistakes and they capitalized.”