Bulldogs lack intensity in 4-2 defeat to Evergreen
Maybe it was the holiday break or lack of practice time for many of the players.
Sobrato coach Ricardo Martinez felt the intensity was lacking Tuesday when the Bulldogs opened the new year by dropping a 4-2 decision to Evergreen Valley in San Jose.
“Our intensity needs to be better,” Martinez said. “During the break, we only had six, seven guys for practice. I think that might have hurt us not being able to practice with a full squad.”
It wasn’t fatal as that was Sobrato’s first Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division defeat. However, it did put the Cougars in the early driver’s seat in the division.
Evergreen Valley has been on a tear since opening the season with nonleague defeats to Overfelt and Santa Cruz. The Cougars have won six of seven since and are off to a great start in the BVAL West Valley Division, winning all three of their encounters and outscoring the opposition 14-2.
Evergreen Valley, the second-place finisher last year, got two goals apiece from Diego Ochoa and Sergio Romero in assuming early control of the division. But the Bulldogs gave the Cougars all they could handle.
In fact, Sobrato (4-3-2 overall, 2-1-1 in league) got on the scoreboard first when Murilo Almeida took a pass from Mario Vargas and slipped past the defense inside the penalty area and beat the goalie 1-on-1 18 minutes into the game. Evergreen Valley got the equalizer four minutes later and it was 1-1 at halftime.
The Cougars scored off a penalty kick five minutes into the second half. Christian Swanson’s crossing pass found Almeida open and the senior forward scored his second goal.
The game remained tied until the Cougars scored on a direct kick with 10 minutes left and then added an insurance goal a few minutes later. Even though it was the second-half onslaught that doomed Sobrato to defeat, Martinez was happier with the play after intermission than in the first half.
“We were not able to put any pressure on them and didn’t have the scoring opportunities,” Martinez said of a first half in which the Bulldogs had just three shots on goal. “We created a lot more in the second half when we had 10 shots. I was happy with the way we played in the second half.”
With upcoming games next week with Del Mar and Prospect, Martinez feels the offense has some catching up to do with the defense. Led by defenders Jaime Inouye, Shibin Tharayil and Sam Stoner in front of goalie Trevor Newcomb, the Bulldogs have yielded 14 goals in nine games.
“We’ll be working a lot on possession,” Martinez said. “Our defense has been solid from the beginning. We’ve had three shutouts and we’re limiting the goals scored against us.
“I think we can compete and be successful with teams like Evergreen Valley. We need to play with more intensity.”
