“This has been a tough three weeks for us for a variety of reasons that had nothing to do with soccer on the field. I am so proud of the players. Sonoma was the hottest team in the conference and had just beaten us 7-1 two weeks before. Our players had every excuse to accept another loss, but they said ‘enough was enough’ and battled like I have never seen them do before,” said Manager Nick Arellano.
The opening stages saw the Sol playing their usual style but found it hard to get through the RSJ defense until a cross from the left resulted in a wide-open shot. RSJ goalkeeper Jonathan Arellano dove left to stop and hold the shot that would be Sonoma’s best from open play.
Having survived the scare, RSJ found the scoring touch. David Sifuentes made a solid steal in midfield and played the ball to Danny Martinez, who then sent Avalos free down the right flank. Avalos dribbled into the box and cut back the ball for Wiffen to poke in from twelve yards out. Then RSJ scored again and again before Sonoma pulled one back off a set piece play.
“We played well as a group, and we won our personal battles. It put us in a great position to be able to turn our defense into attack and beat Sonoma.” Danny Martinez.
And that is what RSJ continued to do scoring twice more in the second half. Defensively Gio Trioni and Cesar Rodriguez dominated the middle while Joe Kay and newly signed Baris Demirlioglu shut down the normally lethal Sol wide attack. The match saw the debuts of Noah Pederson, and Anthony Velazquez.
“We were very disciplined structurally throughout, and it gave us a base to start from to be able to attack Sonoma on the counter. On a personal note, it was great for me to score three goals after struggling with injuries over the last few weeks, and I’m pleased that my goals contributed to a massive win for Real San Jose,” said Wiffen.