(May 5, 2014) Real San Jose defeated visiting San Francisco Stompers Saturday night, giving them their first win of the season. RSJ overcame an early Stompers lead by scoring three times in the second half in the 3-1 victory.
The first goal of the game came early, as San Francisco looked to take the win. Greivin Pacheco squeezed through RSJ’s defense and rammed the ball into the goal in the 4th minute. Although Real San Jose was behind, they did not give up and were not fazed by the one goal deficit.
“Stompers were tough, they tried to get the ball over our heads, but we shut them down. They were lucky in the counter attacks, but we just stayed patient and stuck with our plan, which was to get the ball to our forwards.” said RSJ defender Anthony Abass.
At the 39th minute, San Francisco took advantage of a counter attack and almost scored their second goal by getting the ball to the wings and crossing it in the box, but goalkeeper Jonathan Arellano dove for the ball before Stompers’ offense could even touch it! Right after, defender David Sifuentes crosses the ball to Jose Avalos, but it was unluckily deflected by Stompers’ defense. The rest of the half consisted of both teams going up and down the field fighting to get a goal. The last chance to score came at the 44th minute as Jake Brice-Wiffen received a pass from Avalos, and shot it on target; unfortunately, the ball was punched out of bounds by San Francisco’s goalkeeper. Real San Jose fought hard to tie the game before the first half ended, but failed to put one in.
The second half started just as intense as the first ended. Fernando Rivas entered the field at the 52nd minute and just a couple minutes after, shot the ball just outside the 18-yard line but it barely went over the goal. RSJ kept fighting hard, not letting San Francisco get by them. Just when all hope seemed lost for Real San Jose, Avalos received a through ball from the midfield, dribbled the ball, and shot it in the net to equalize the score at the 75th minute!
In an interview after the game, Jose Avalos said, “It was a hard first half, but we just played better than them, and finished what we came to accomplish… to win.”
The team was not done, at the 77th minute, just after coming into the pitch, Avalos’ younger brother, Luis Avalos, took advantage of San Francisco’s miscommunication inside their own penalty box by recovering the ball, and then shooting it into the bottom left corner of the goal, giving RSJ a one goal lead. Two minutes later, Jose Avalos dribbles the ball into the penalty box from the wing and taps the ball to the right of Stompers’ goalie to score his second goal of the match.
“It was a very exciting game, we just had to be patient and give it our all,” midfielder Luis Avalos stated after the match.
Fernando Rivas was also interviewed. Rivas said, “We played well and won against a team we didn’t expect to win. We really needed this victory.” Rivas added “You better expect nothing but wins from now on!”
Mt. Pleasant High School’s Alumni, David Sifuentes and Jose Avalos along with current Mt. Pleasant students Cesar Rodriguez and Luis Avalos played exceptionally well and dominated the game. Having relocated at Mt. Pleasant, Real San Jose’s manager and owner, Nick Arellano, hoped to have the community support these players as they move on to bigger and better things.
The future is looking bright for Real San Jose.