Daniel Torres’ coaching style was conducive to the chilly weather Wednesday evening at Carpinteria High.
The Warrior boys soccer coach was constantly jumping, pacing and shouting, which no doubt kept his body temperature up.
His team responded with a 2-1 win over visiting Santa Ynez, ranked third in CIF Division III’s preseason polls.
“That’s just my style,” said Torres of his sideline song-and-dance. “That’s how I was as a player and as a coach it helps to energize my players. Even before the game I’m jumping around.”
Junior Christian Estrada scored on a penalty kick in the 50th minute to put the Warriors up 1-0, but Santa Ynez’s Daniel Barbosa responded about eight minutes later.
In the 74th, the ball pin-balled through the box in front of the Pirates’ goal and eventually made it to the far side, where Arturo Alvarez was waiting to chip in the winner.
It was a strong showing of resilience for Carpinteria, which lost a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss to No. 2 Pacifica on Tuesday.
“It was a tough loss yesterday, but we bounced back tonight, and we’re going to continue to bounce back and get a lot more wins,” said junior Eduardo Contreras, who was fouled and went down hard late in the game but shook it off and stayed in.
The Warriors are now 7-3 on the season and have the confidence to back up their record.
“It’s no fluke. We’re a good team and we can beat good teams,” said Torres.
