Coyote comeback falls just short
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Raul Rivera tries to get past a Pacheco defender in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss. Rivera scored the first goal of the game in the loss.
The Madera Coyotes boys soccer team allowed two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half and trailed 4-1 before intensifying its attack and falling just short of a victory against Pacheco-Los Banos.
“Our defending has been real lazy,” head coach Nic Landeros said. “We had lazy tackles and lazy positioning and that’s why we’re giving up so many goals right now.”
The Coyotes bounced back with a goal in the 13th minute and got a penalty kick goal in the 23rd minute, but couldn’t find that equalizer.
“I asked them at halftime if the team meant something for them to come back,” Landeros said. “I told them to prove to me to get the right result. If we’re more urgent in the first half, we could have come out with a win. We had a lot of lazy performances right now and we have to fix that.”
The Coyotes hoped to bounce back in the Clovis Cougar Classic on Friday and today.
“We are on a five game losing streak after starting 4-1,” Landeros said. “It hurts because it’s things that we shouldn’t be having to fix.”
The Coyotes thought they were going to be the ones controlling the match, getting a goal four minutes in. Raul Rivera got the ball on the left side, just inside the goalkeeper’s box. He turned and shot into the upper left corner for the early goal.
However, Pacheco got a run on the left side and sent a cross. A Coyote defender tried to knock the ball out, but a Pacheco attacker knocked the ball into the net to tie the score.
Pacheco took the lead midway through the first half, intercepting a Madera pass in the middle of the offensive zone. The attacker went one-on-one with goalkeeper Juan Daza and shot past him into the near post.
Five minutes into the second half, Pacheco got a counterattack and beat a Madera defender to the end line. He centered the ball and it went past Daza into the net for a 3-1 lead.
Pacheco added to its lead by dribbling by three Madera defenders to goal. The Pacheco attacker dribbled by Daza and shot on goal. The ball rolled by a sliding Madera defender for a 4-1 lead. The Coyotes started the comeback three minutes later. Ricardo Lopez dribbled the ball to the end line and crossed the ball back to Gerardo Cabrera, who knocked the ball in for a 4-2 Pacheco lead.
The Panthers were thwarted of another opportunity by Daza in the 18th minute.
Midway through the second half, Rivera shot on goal in the front, but it went off the left post and the rebound shot was stopped.
In the 23rd minute, Ivan Martinez headed the ball in the goalkeeper’s box and it went off a Pacheco defender’s hands and a penalty kick was given to the Coyotes. Martinez took the penalty kick and kicked it into the left corner by a diving keeper to cut the lead to one.
The Coyotes had a prime opportunity in the 27th minute when River got the ball in front. He beat the keeper, but dribbled the ball too hard towards the end line. By the time he recovered the ball, his shot went into the side of the net.
On the ensuing counter, Pacheco got the ball by Daza, but a Madera defender came back and blocked the shot out of bounds to keep the Coyotes in the match.
However, the Coyotes couldn’t get another good scoring opportunity over the final 13 minutes in the 4-3 loss.
