The Carpinteria High School boys soccer team will take the home victory, but had hoped to add a little cushion to its 1-0 lead in the second half of Friday’s rivalry game against Bishop Diego. A resilient Cardinal defense dug in its heels and withstood everything in the Warrior arsenal, keeping the game within striking distance in the 1-0 Warrior win.
“I’ll take 1-0 just as well as I’ll take 5-0,” said Warrior soccer coach Daniel Torres. The win was the second straight shutout in as many nights by the rebounding Warriors, who improved to 4-2 in Tri-Valley League.
The Cardinals have lost all five of their Tri-Valley League matches, including a prior 2-0 loss to the Warriors.
About 16 minutes into the match, the Warriors capitalized on a set play off a corner kick. Hector Delgado chipped the corner to nearby Tony Alvarez. Looping behind Alvarez, Delgado cut into the box, received the ball and skidded a roller under the outstretched arms of diving Cardinal goalie Casey Yokubaitis.
“They’ve been working on that play for a couple of years,” Torres said, adding that it has worked on multiple occasions.
Focused on the one that got by, not the other 79 minutes of impenetrable goalkeeping, Yokubaitis commented, “I dove but wasn’t low enough. I don’t want to make excuses.”
The one that slipped by Yokubaitis was hardly the most forceful ball the Warriors launched at the goalie during the match. With a little help from tenacious defenders, the goalie staved off over a dozen shots on goal by the Warriors in the second half alone.
Bishop defenders Matthew Grimes and Paul Ortega met every Warrior attack and likely have the ball-shaped bruises to show for their efforts. Using their feet, heads and torsos, the defenders rerouted many would-be goals.
“We recruited Grimes off the tennis team and he’s been a great addition,” said Cardinal coach Jesus Landeros.
Aiming to pad their lead with renewed intensity in the second half, the Warriors came out shooting behind energizer Edwin Elizarraras. The sophomore unloaded within the first 30 seconds of the half but had his strike deflected by Yokubaitis, the crossbar and the sidebar. He also attempted multiple headers and set up his teammates with entry passes to no avail.
The Cardinals mounted only a handful of attacks, mostly the result of turning loose balls upfield with only two or three bodies ahead with the play.
“Sometimes you play how you need to play, not how you want to play,” said Landeros of Bishop’s strategy of playing back to fend off a stacked Warrior squad.
Diego Gamez manned the goal for the Warriors’ shutout.
Underdogs in this match and most league matches, the Cardinals, now 0-5 in Tri-Valley League, have been in many of their games, but have not been able to tip the score in their favor.
“The soccer gods have to give us something at some point, “ Landeros said.
