San Marcos’ defense made a stand on Saturday, not allowing the Royals’ opponents to score in two games on the way to a tournament title at the Central Coast Classic.
Efren Gutierrez recorded two shutouts in a 1-0 victory over Santa Maria in the first game followed by a 2-0 outcome against Nipomo.
“You can’t shut teams out without a good defense,” noted Royals head coach Brian Eisen, highlighting Ian McFarlane and Ryan Gillmore for their lead defensive roles. “They made Efren’s day a lot easier.”
Dillon Krause scored the day’s first goal, creating his own shot with a move to get past his defender just outside the penalty box. James Crook assisted on the goal by getting it ahead to Krause from the midfield.
Crook was on the other end in the second game, scoring the game’s second goal on a pass from Michael Gallop. Erik Gutierrez had put the Royals ahead from the start with a goal in the second minute.
“That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game,” Eisen said.
San Marcos is 4-1-1 after going 3-0-1 in the tournament.
“We’re on a streak and basically have to stay grounded because on Monday we’re playing a pretty good Hueneme team,” concluded Eisen.
