Jesse Jimenez of Dos Pueblos hit a beautiful curling shot in the 43rd minute, and the Chargers withstood heavy pressure from San Marcos in the final minutes to hold on to a 3-2 boys soccer win in a Channel League match Tuesday night at Warkentin Stadium.
It was the second win in two days for the Chargers. They won a rain make-up match against Buena on Monday.
“It was great coming on the heels of the back-to-back,” DP coach Matt York said of the win at San Marcos.
San Marcos got the board first, with captain Kevin Shaw scoring from a sharp angle in the 15th minute.
Omar Montalvo tied the score for Dos Pueblos in the 30th minute. Lalo Arce drove the ball to the touchline and hit a hard cross that deflected off the goalkeeper’s hands to Montalvo, who scored easily.
Montalvo would later leave the game with an injury.
The Chargers took a 2-1 lead eight minutes later on a terrific free kick by Christian Uribe from 25 yards. He found a crease in the San Marcos wall and drilled the ball past the goalkeeper.
“It was a great moment for him,” said York.
Dos Pueblos went up 3-1 early in the second half when freshmen Manny Nwosu and Jimenez combined. Nwosu powered the ball up the left wing and played it back for Jimenez, who bent the ball inside the far post.
“It was good to watch our freshman connect,” said York.
There was still plenty of time for San Marcos to come back, and the Royals pushed hard to get even. They put pressured the DP back line with long balls into the box. The Chargers were called for a handball on one of the long passes, resulting in a penalty kick.
Robbie Landeros converted the PK to make it a 3-2 score in the 65th minute.
San Marcos kept attacking and hit the left post with about three minutes left in the match. But Dos Pueblos held on to improve to 2-3-1 in league and 8-9-3 overall. The Royals fell to 0-4-1 in Channel League.
San Marcos assistant coach Jess Landeros lauded the play of defenders Marcos Lopez, Bryan Cantero and midfielder Brian Godinez.
