“Everyone just did what they had to do at that moment, and we just fought. It was a huge team effort, and everyone did their part,” said Arellano.
Juan Carlos Leal nearly put RSJ on top in the second minute when Noah Pederson played a low ball from right to left. Leal’s shot was pushed out for a corner by Sacramento goalkeeper Andres Olmedo.
The match developed into a fast paced contest with both teams choosing the direct approach to goal more often than not. Leal had another clear chance go wide in the 17th minute. Sacramento came closest to goal when Jose Martinez put the ball on the post, and a pair of goal-bound efforts were well saved by Arellano. First was an excellent reflex save denying Manolo Pina, and the other was a diving save stopping a blast heading for the inside of the back post.
The second half saw the teams work more towards ball control until the 69th minute when Daniel Galvan sent a defense splitting pass at midfield to Guerro. Guerro, making his first appearance since a season-ending injury ended his 2015 after just two games, went free with plenty of time and space to steer the ball around Olmedo and into the net.
Sacramento responded to the setback by pushing numbers forward in search of getting even. It took two spectacular defensive plays to keep RSJ in the lead. Giovanni Troini cleared a shot from Chimdum Mez off the goal line and in the 81st minute; Arellano made a double save by blocking a blast at goal from Piña and quickly recover to stop a follow-up shot from Mez’s.
“Our goalkeeper had our backs a couple of times, and we had his,” said Troini.
Real San Jose travels to Oakland next Saturday to face CD Aguiluchos in the rescheduling of the rained out match on March 12. On April 2, RSJ plays their first home match of 2016 when they play host to East Bay Stompers at PAL Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.