Apaches curb Wharton’s quickness, win 3-1

GONZALES — Before the season began, the Apaches head soccer coach Greg Ramirez made it a point to get his team ready for his “attacking” style of play. That was tested on Friday night as they had their home opener against the speedy Wharton Tigers.

Ultimately it was Gonzales that passed the test, winning 3-1 in the contest.

“Wonderful win,” Ramirez said, “it was hard, a tough team. I knew they were going to be tough coming in.”

Even with Wharton’s speed, the Apaches were able to get a goal early in the game, with Rogelio Sanchez getting a through ball to the left of the box and finding Santiago Escoto who kicked it to the right of the goal, getting past the Tiger keeper and making it 1-0 for the Apaches in the second minute.

“That right there is something we kind of design,” Ramirez said of the score. “Luckily we’ve been doing that in the tournament [as well].”

Despite the early goal it was Wharton who pushed the ball forward, countering Gonzales’ attacking style.

“I knew they were going to be fast,” Ramirez noted. “Their forwards were fast, their mids were faster, their defense was strong. They play the 4-3-3 a lot so that made it hard for us to get around them.”

As the Tigers tried to find an opening in the box, the Apaches weren’t able to retain possession largely in part to Wharton’s aggressiveness. In the 25th minute, an Apache midfielder lobbed a ball into the goal box where Escoto tried to follow up for a potential shot. Wharton’s goal keeper Jervonte Dawson ran up for the save and appeared to grab Escoto with a potential foul that would have resulted in a penalty kick. However the officials opted not to call the foul and in turn didn’t call very many fouls throughout the game.

“That’s part of the game,” Ramirez said of the officials. “[Wharton was] extremely physical and I’m glad that our guys were able to take that punishment.”

“Coming into this game we talked in the locker room and we talked out here and told them ‘do not get mad, stay focused on the game and we’ll win.’ And that’s what they did. They dealt with the frustration with getting hit, getting pushed from the back and they dealt with it well.”

Late in the first half their patience was rewarded in the 39th minute. John Bashaw drew a foul on the left side of the pitch. José Flores took the free kick and crossed it in the box. As the ball bounced around, Apache sub Omar Velazquez fielded the rebound and kicked it in for Gonzales’ second goal of the night, giving the Apaches the 2-0 lead headed into the half.

Midway through the second half the Tigers grabbed their first goal in the 53rd minute. Wharton’s forward took the ball from wide right and kicked it towards the left for a score, cutting the lead to 2-1.

“That was their quickness,” Ramirez said. “They are fast, so far the fastest team we’ve seen.”

After the goal the Apaches’ attack began to heat up until finally in the 57th minute they were awarded their first corner of the game. Wharton cleared it but gave up another corner before clearing it out once more.

The Apaches’ final goal of the night came in the 62nd minute on a counter. Sanchez grabbed his second assist of the night as he raced down the right side of the field. As he got close to the box, Sanchez crossed it to Escoto who proceed to finish with a kick to the right of the goal for a score, putting the Apaches up 3-1 with about 18 minutes of play to go.

Gonzales was able to keep the two-goal win margin much to the help of the defensive back line as well as goalkeeper Daniel Barrientos who came away with key saves late in the game.

“The whole team [played well],” Ramirez said. “I can’t single out one person on this because it was a team thing. The whole team gave it their 100 percent and the whole 11 that were out here, they played with their heart.”

After the win, Ramirez reiterated how important it was getting success in these non-district games, especially because it sets them up for the district season.

“This game is going to help us out a lot,” he explained. “Playing somebody fast like this will help us out for district. I haven’t really got to see our district teams yet this year and I will here pretty soon when I watch film on them to get ready for it but [this game] will enhance the guys.”

The Apaches travel tonight to take on the Pleasanton Eagles with kickoff set for 7 p.m.