After the slow start, the San Marcos boys soccer team turned on the jets in its Channel League opener against crosstown rival Dos Pueblos High, and never looked back, defeating the Chargers 5-0 at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
With the win, San Marcos, the defending Channel League champions, improve to 9-2-2 overall and 1-0 in league play while Dos Pueblos falls to 8-5-3 and 0-1 in league play.
“Goals are always good and this was a good start to league play for sure,” San Marcos head coach Paul McLean told Noozhawk.
San Marcos’ senior defender Miguel Mondragon stole the show on Tuesday night, assisting on the first two goals and then scoring the third.
“He’s perfectly consistent and honestly he’s been that good since he was a freshman,” McLean said.
“He’s started every game since he was a freshman and there’s not a better left-footed defensive player that I’ve seen. He’s a special player who delivers the ball consistently.”
Dos Pueblos started the contest controlling the pace. For the first 20 minutes of the contest, the team was winning a lot of 50-50 balls and keeping the ball on San Marcos’ side of the field.
Though they controlled, however, the Chargers mustered only one shot on goal in those first 20 minutes.
“We didn’t have enough shots on goal to test them and really force them out of their comfort zone,” DP head coach Matt York said after the game.
“I did feel like we had some things early, getting down off the edge, and I thought we were able to beat him going down the right side a little bit. Then I felt we lacked a little bit of our structure, so that’s something we have to clean up.”
It was San Marcos’ game the rest of the night.
“Our response was fantastic,” McLean said.
“DP did a fantastic job in the opening 20 minutes, they had all the possession, but I thought we made a good formation change that helped us regain possession and then we took advantage of a couple of early goals that made a big difference in terms of swinging the momentum.”
The first goal of the contest came in the 24th minute, when the Royals’ senior defender Junior Leon beat his man to the ball off a free kick and headed it in over the keeper to make the score 1-0.
Three minutes later, another free kick resulted in a score as junior defender Justin Hess out jumped multiple defenders and even some of his teammates to head the ball into the net.
“Their corner kicks were really strong and their headers were really good in the box as well and I just applaud them for that. They were tough in the air and they were physical and they didn’t miss a lot,” York said.
Both goals were serviced by Mondragon who placed each kick perfectly and from deep as well. The half ended with the Royals up 2-0.
“I am just happy to provide for the team. Those two assists in the first half were important for the team because we started slow but we eventually picked it up,” Mondragon said.
“I have always been a defender and helping the team first, and dropping back and going up is the main thing I do, so I just try to keep it up.”
Coming out of the half, San Marcos didn’t cool down one bit. In the 52nd minute, the man who served up both early goals made one himself. Mondragon shot from beyond the box and slotted it past the keeper to make the score 3-0.
“I don’t usually score goals but when I do, it comes at a good moment,” Mondragon said.
Six minutes later, the Royals’ senior midfielder Sergio Diaz was at the right place at the right time, touching a deflection made by DP’s keeper in the box and then slotting it past him for the goal.
The final score of the night came courtesy of junior forward Luke Sheffey, who headed it past the keeper in the 60th minute.
“It’s always encouraging when we sub players in and the level stays the same, and I thought that absolutely happened tonight,” McLean said.
“Every player we put in the game managed his role and his responsibility really well and that allowed us to kind of keep possession of the ball and keep creating chances.”
Though the team won in dominant fashion, McLean said there are still many small things the team needs to fix if they want to repeat as league champions.
“We’re just trying to get better each game and I would say, it’s a good start, but that’s all it is,” McLean said.
Despite the tough loss at home, York said it’s just one game of a long Channel League season.
“My message to my team at the end was, ‘Let’s honor this game. Let’s look at this game and let’s try not to feel this way again,” he said.
“We still have so many games and no one wins or loses the league after game one. It’s never fun to lose to a crosstown rival, especially when you grow up playing with these guys. But maybe that’s the kick in the pants that we need, maybe that’s the spark that’ll galvanize us.”
Dos Pueblos will travel to face Santa Barbara while San Marcos will travel to face Cabrillo on Thursday.