They may not have been the prettiest of goals, but East Union sophomore Yandel Gutierrez added three more to his Sac-Joaquin Section-leading total and lifted his team to a 3-2 victory at Sierra.
Some fortunate bounces helped lead to two of them, but the result overall was a fair one, with the Lancers (2-1, 13-3-1 overall) on the front foot for much of the 80 minutes.
Jose Gonzales scored both goals for the Timberwolves (3-1, 5-6), who were in a first-place tie with Patterson coming into the Valley Oak League contest.
“Another good win — I’ll take it,” East Union coach Ronnie Green said. “I knew it was going to be tough. Sierra’s (overall) record is not that strong, but they’ve played some tough teams. They’re always scrappy, and they did not quit the whole time. They fought us all the way through.”
Gutierrez has upped his season tallies to 22 goals and 48 points — impressive marks, considering he missed EU’s first four games. The hat trick is his third of the campaign.
Goal No. 20 did not go exactly as plan.
It came on a free kick near the top of Sierra’s penalty box in the 29th minute. Ben Diaz started the set piece with a light touch, and Gutierrez followed up with a big swing — and slipped. He still managed to get enough on the ball for a strong deflection off Sierra’s defensive wall, and it snuck past goalie Raiden Meas.
“It was just a shock,” Gutierrez said. “I was trying to power shoot it to the goal, but I slipped. Luckily, it hit the defender and went in.”
That was the first goal of the game, and the Lancers never trailed. Some more good fortune led to what ended up being a much-needed insurance goal in the 51st minute, when a ball bounced into the box and off the raised arm of a Sierra defender. That awarded a penalty kick for East Union, and Gutierrez converted with a confident strike for a 3-1 Lancers lead.
Sierra did not take long to answer, as Gonzalez scored on the first touch off a centered feed from Johan Arroyo on a counterattack.
“It was a team effort,” Gutierrez said. “Sierra put up a good fight. I think it was a pretty good game.”
East Union went up for good in the final minute of the first half, when midfielder Carlos Heredia sent a through ball into space for Gutierrez to chase down and put away the fastbreak goal.
Sierra was fortunate to be only down one goal at halftime, as East Union outshot the Timberwolves 11-1 in the first half.
“We haven’t played a team like this that presses hard and wants to play long (balls),” Sierra assistant coach Chris Silva said. He is filling in for head coach Joe Pires, who is on vacation.
“We have to be able to win the big ball in the air and then lay to our feet, but in the first 30 minutes, we weren’t playing our game. Toward the end of the second half, we showed our game a little better and had lots of opportunities. We’re going over there (on Feb. 3) knowing how they’re going to play, so we’ll just make the little adjustments, and hopefully, we can play a full 80 minutes.”
The highlight of the match went to Gonzalez on his first goal, and it provided a much-needed boost for the T’wolves in the 31st minute.
His equalizer was set up by a free kick by Axzel Razo at midfield. Camped deep inside Sierra’s 18, Gonzalez knocked it down with a deft first touch with back to goal and spun 180 degrees to take a crack at it.
The golazo even impressed the opposing coach.
“What a finish,” Green said. “First touch was amazing. Probably one of the best goals I’ve seen this season. Not to take away from my own players, but that was just a fantastic goal.”
