This article was written by BenitoLink intern Alexis Castro Juarez. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
Santa Rosa’s Cardinal Newman High School ended Hollister boys soccer historic run in a 3-1 victory Feb. 27 for the first round of the 2024 Northern California Championship Division III playoffs.
The Balers got to a spot to play in the tournament when they became Central Coast Section Champions for the first time after defeating Los Gatos 2-0 on Feb. 24.
“They were probably the best team we played all season,” said Hollister coach Greg Bloom. “The first 10 minutes were pretty shaky for us. We weren’t used to how fast they were and they were putting the ball over the top.”
Cardinal Newman saw their early control of the game translate into the first goal in the 15th minute when they scored off a penalty kick.
Though the visiting team dominated most of the first half, the Balers were able to gain possession of the ball and create four scoring opportunities before halftime.
Two minutes before halftime Emiliano Castro raced past two defenders and dribbled past the goalkeeper to tie the game 1-1.
“In the beginning we had a slow start, but after the team tied the game it just brought up the momentum to us and after halftime we just came back in,” Hollister defensive player Adan San Ramon told BenitoLink.
Scenes from the game:
Hollister appeared to have regained their rhythm following the break and created four scoring opportunities in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
“I feel like most of our guys didn’t feel the pressure only because we weren’t expecting to go this far into our season and just you know winning the first round of the CCS was incredible for us,” San Ramon said.
However, the Balers were unable to score and the game started open up as Cardinal Newman created scoring opportunities of their own.
“I feel pretty good about the way we played, I thought we were competitive and they were a tough team,” Bloom said.
Cardinal Newman took the lead in the 26th minute of the second half off a corner kick and scored the last goal of the game five minutes later.
“The penalty kick kind of hurt us, the second goal was pretty soft in the back corner, though the third goal was good. That was a good shot,” Bloom said.
Hollister forward Adrian Valdez said he was proud of the team for their effort and passion.
“I think this team was seen as the underdogs this season, we were still motivated even though we were a goal down and made it,” Valdez said. “We’ve been through games like this before during the regular season, and we just trusted each other. We couldn’t pull through, but it was a good season.”
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