James Lick hangs with tough Sobrato team
James Lick hangs with tough Sobrato team
MORGAN HILL
Midway through the second half of Friday’s boys soccer game at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center, James Lick finally broke through the barrier that is Sobrato goal keeper Eugene Richardson to tie the game 1-1 and save a loss for James Lick.
The Bulldogs’ Mario Vargas-Contreras scored a goal in the first half, but Sobrato failed to find the back of the net against speedy James Lick the rest of the game.
Both teams had opportunities to score throughout, but the strong play of both goalies kept the low score.
Early in the second half Sobrato’s Victor Iracheta took an open shot from 30 yards out but it went right into the goal keeper’s hands.
On the Bulldogs’ next possession Vargas-Contreras, the leading scorer for the Bulldogs, took an open shot from about 42 yards out but had the same result.
A header by a James Lick player, near the James Lick goal, took a wrong bounce -over the goal keeper’s head- but just missed to the right, giving Sobrato a corner kick opportunity, which they did not convert.
Friday’s tie was Sobrato’s third of the early season, but head coach Ricardo Martinez is confident his team will find their groove.
“We have a lot of depth this year with 22 guys on the team,” Martinez said. “So when we have injuries our bench allows us to be consistent.”
After finishing in second place in the C Division of the BVAL for the 2006-07 season, the Bulldogs have moved up to the B Division, and Martinez is embracing the advance.
“We’ve played a lot of A League teams and done well,” Martinez said. “This year we are just as good as last year … so I’m hoping that we finish in the top.”
Players to watch out for are senior defender Shabin Tharayil, sophomore defender Cullen Harrington, and junior forward Vargas-Contreras.
