(April 10, 2010) Johnny Gonzalez scored his second hat-trick in as many games as Real San Jose defeated the Bay Area Ambassadors 3-1 on April 10, 2010, at Yerba Buena High School in San Jose. Real San Jose is off to a 2-0 start in the 2010 NPSL season.
Just fives minutes later it was RSJ’s chance to shoot from the spot. Ferid Celosmanovic was tripped to the ground as he powered toward goal and Krow-Lucal was once again pointing to a spot. This time that spot was in the Bay Area penalty area. Gonzalez, just as he did a week earlier converted the chance and RSJ took a 2-1 lead into half time.
Second half action saw RSJ control the pace despite Bay Area’s pushing for the tying goal. The match appeared to have taken a dramatic turn when RSJ midfielder Jorge Hernandez was shown his second yellow card of the match and the home team was reduced to ten men in the 80th minute.
That dramatic turn did not turn out as usual. Bay Area instantly threw everyone forward, and short-handed RSJ took full advantage. Ferid Celosmanovic pounced on the ball as it was cleared from the RSJ box. Celosmanovic quickly sent Gonzalez away 1v1 with Valle and that-was-that. Gonzalez rolled the ball to Valle’s left, and RSJ only had to sit on a two-goal lead for the final eight minutes. That was easily done, and RSJ went on to win 3-1.
The Real San Jose team room was beaming with confidence with the result and prospects for the season. Here is what Johnny Gonzalez said when asked who it feels to score hattricks in the first two matches of the season: “It feels good, real good but I’ll be the first one to tell you that it starts with the team. I wouldn’t have scored those three goals without my teammates. Our defense has been real solid even back in preseason. Our midfield has done a good job setting me up when I check to a ball and make those diagonal runs. So they have been making it easy for me. Fortunately, I have been the one to score, but that doesn’t mean my teammates have not been backing me up. It feels great. That was the team I played for last season, and it feels good to score on them,”
“Starting the season 2-0 is a great feeling. We didn’t win one game at home last year. That was a disappointment but this year is a different team. We are gonna do damage this year so watch out for Real San Jose,” said RSJ captain Jesus Araujo.
“It’s good. A good group of guys. I’ve played in the PDL last two years, and this team definitely has the same caliber as PDL. There is a good group of guys that are hard workers and it has been a joy. We have a lot of momentum going into the season with two wins. We worked hard in the preseason and this last week, and we have to carry that into the next week, the next game. We can’t slow down. We need to keep working, and we will keep getting wins,” said newcomer David Barnett.
Real San Jose travels to Southern Oregon where the Fuego will be waiting. In two weeks RSJ returns home to host the defending NPSL Champions Sonoma Sol.
Bay Area Ambassadors (1-0-1) Sergio Valle; Manuel Cardenas, Dannylo Ayllon, Dylan Kiyomorua, Arnoldo Mendoza, Dickson Igbinueka, Stefan Clemens, Manual Vasquez, Matt Mitchell, Jacob Wilson, Javier Hill. (Subs: Mohammad Akbari, Aneesh Rena, Sylvester Kaar, Jun Nishioka, Mirza Dedic, Gino Pavone)
Real San Jose (2-0-0): Jonathan Arellano; Alex Plancarte, Jeseus Araujo, Olasunkanmi Abass, Jose Cortez; David Barnett, Jose Juarez, Ferid Celosmanovic, Jore Hernandez, Johhny Gonzalez, Ricardo Moran (subs: Steven Gonzalez, Abel Atlaw, Eilmaz Sarli, Miguel Torrez, Luis Valencia, Daniel Hughes, Fidel Medina).
Referee: Steve Krow-Lucal; Michael Faryabi, Clint Copeland; Jesse Nagra