May 6, 2005 With second half goals by
Tony Bussard
and Miguel
Santoyo Sonoma County Sol (2-1-1) defeated the previously
unbeaten Salinas Samba(3-0-0) by 2-0 to take over first place in the
NPSL Western Division. The effort was bolstered with 13 saves by
goalkeeper Derek
Shaffer who preserved the shutout win tonight at Piner High
School before a crowd of 365.
Sol came out
with guns blazing in the first 30 minutes, putting constant pressure on
Samba and their goal keeper Christian Matterrazzi with several
shots and resultant corner kicks. While the midfield play kept up the
pace and powerful forwards
David Briceno,
Brandon Boone
and Tony Bussard developed several opportunities, none was sufficient to
find the back of the net. League leading Samba seemed a bit surprised
by the intensity of the early Sol attack. However, near the end of the
half, Samba found their legs and started returning the effort at the
other end of the field, forcing Shaffer to make several good saves. The
half ended 0-0 with Sol leading Samba in shots 9 to 4, even in corner
kicks 4-4 and Shaffer leading Materrazzi in saves
6 to 4.
Samba
regrouped at halftime and took it to Sol for the first 30 minutes of the
second half. Derek Shaffer came up huge making several outstanding saves
including a one foot save as he was falling away in the opposite
direction. A fortunate foul called against Samba about 30 yards out
from their goal in minute 75 finally lead to a goal for Sol. Defender
Justin Diener
floated a free kick over the wall, connecting with the head
of hard charging Tony Bussard who popped the ball over Matterrazzi and
into the net for what proved to be the game winner.
Coach
Dave Shaffer made
several key second-half substitutions which brought in fresh legs and
changed the nature of attack from power and strength to speed and
elusiveness. Eighteen-year-old Miguel Santoyo entered the game in
minute 78 and had an immediate impact against the tired Samba defenders,
taking 3 shots in the remaining time. In the 87th minute,
his speed and skill helped him elude the last Samba field defender.
With Materrazzi off his line and a deflected ball slowly rolling toward
the net, Santoyo was on past Materrazzi when the goalkeeper pulled
Santoyo down in the penalty area. While this was probably the only
thing the goal keeper could do to preserve any chance of a Samba tie, he
was ejected and Sol was awarded a penalty kick. Santoyo got revenge by
converting the PK for the insurance goal.
Great goal
keeping and the depth of the Sol bench were both keys to this game. The
quality of Derek Shaffer’s performance drew an appreciative nod and wave
from Matterrazzi as he was exiting the field after his ejection. The UC
Davis goalie was spot on and mistake free against a very fast and
skilled front line for Samba, including league leading goal scorer
Ismael Ibarra, to preserve his shutout. He has set the Sol goal keeping
bar high for
Cal
goalie Eric
Kronberg who will start the Saturday game against the
Sacramento Knights. The bench is proving its value as, for the second
game in a row, a substitute has come in late in the game to produce a
goal. This team depth offers Coach Shaffer the opportunity to employ
different attacks depending on the opposition.
The Samba
game sets the stage for Saturday’s showdown in Sacramento against the
Knights. Game time is
7 PM at
Consumnes
River College in Sacramento. A win gives Sol a shot at the second
qualifying position to compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The
Knights, the Albuquerque Asylum, and San Diego Pumitas are the other
teams that have a shot at qualifying. The second position will not be
decided until Asylum and the Pumitas play their games next weekend.
Salinas Samba has already qualified.
