After what coach Tovi Eliasen called “one of the worst first halves of the season,” the Dos Pueblos boys soccer team came out on fire in the second half and picked up a 4-0 win at Buena on Thursday.
“Me and my assistant coach were not happy and felt we needed a little kick in the pants,” said Eliasen.
On top of the kick, the Chargers gained some extra momentum by getting their first goal off of a Buena own-goal in the 51st minute. Matt Grace sent in a cross and a Bulldogs defender accidentally deflected it in.
Then came a spectacular goal from Eduardo Cortez, who stepped into a pass from Danny Rowell in the 53rd minute and, on one bounce, blasted it into the upper-v from 35 yards out. The Dos Pueblos bench erupted and dog-piled Cortez, leading to a yellow card for excessive celebration.
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“It was quite possibly the nicest goal I’ve ever seen in my life in person. It was just a great moment,” said Eliasen.
Cortez then assisted Rodrigo Perez for a left-footed goal in the 76th and Kenny Lara scored off of a rebound three minutes after that.
“We just got hot in the last 30 minutes. It’ nice to get this win, and we haven’t scored four goals in a game this season so it was nice to get a few bounces going our way offensively,” said Eliasen. “We’re still far from being completely content. We’ve got a lot of things to work on.”
The coach also credited Tony Modugno for a solid match as the center defender for the Chargers, who are now 7-4-6 overall and 1-0-2 in the Channel League.
