Garcia powers Stallions to win
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera South’s Christian Garcia (17) battles with Madera’s Juan Perez during Thursday’s match. Garcia scored two wins in a 5-2 victory.
The Madera South Stallions boys soccer team scored three goals in the first half and added two more in the second half to sweep aside the Madera Coyotes, 5-2, in a County/Metro Athletic Conference match at Lee DaSilva Field in Memorial Stadium.
“It’s nice to beat our rivals but it’s better to get that win in conference,” Madera South head coach Enrique Garcia said. “Madera High gave it to the very end and I applaud them for that. To come down from 5-0 and still determined to play and get something going, more power to them. Hopefully they do better in league.”
For the Coyotes, even after starting the game off on the wrong foot, they hung in the game and fought until the end.
“They showed a lot of class and character,” Madera Coyotes head coach Nic Landeros said of his team. “Ultimately, they showed how much the team means to them. They could’ve put their head down and settled for the defeat, but they kept going at it and going at it and we were able to get two goals out of it.”
Powerful, agile and intelligent are some of the words used to describe Stallions midfielder Christian Garcia. Against next-door rivals Madera, Garcia put all of his qualities on the display with two goals, along with an assist.
Although Garcia took the plaudits, the Stallions, as a team, came to play. Four different players scored, and four different players provided an assist.
Kevin Osuna, Oscar Galindo and Angel Avila scored goals, along with Garcia’s two.
The Coyotes, on the other hand, never got into a rhythm until the match was decided.
After conceding three goals in the first half, Madera could’ve given in and shut down but instead they responded.
Seth Valencia and Emmanuel Cabello gave the Coyotes some life at the end with a well-place penalty kick and a well-worked ball into the box. Although Madera South came out on top, the Coyotes showed they can play with their rivals when they are in rhythm.
After Galindo broke the game open early with a goal in the second minute, the Stallions rode the momentum for two more first half goals.
Garcia netted the Stallions’ second goal on a corner kick by Steven Arvizu. Madera South tried to force the ball inside the penalty area, however they were forced to settle for the corner. Unfortunately for the Coyotes, they failed to mark Garcia, who rose over a defender and scored on a header.
The Stallions made it 3-0 in the 37th minute after Garcia was fouled outside the Coyotes penalty area for a free kick. He surveyed the distance before he let loose a shot that went over the Coyote keeper and into the back of the net.
Shortly after halftime, the Stallions countered in the blink of an eye to add to their lead.
Angel Avila caught the Coyotes napping and made them pay with a right-footed finish to beat the Coyote keeper for a fourth time in less than 50 minutes of game time.
Osuna then made it 5-0 shortly after. Osuna and Garcia linked up after Garcia dribbled down the pitch before touching a short pass to Osuna who collected the pass and scored in the top corner. Already down five goals, the Coyotes responded.
Madera’s first goal of the match came on a penalty after Valencia was brought down by a challenge.
He took the kick himself and fired into the bottom left corner to break the ice for Madera.
With the game inching towards the final two minutes, the Coyotes once again found their form.
Ryan DaRocha darted down the wing right wing where he picked out Cabello in the box. Cabello latched onto the ball with his right foot and finished just inside the post for the Coyotes second goal of the game.
The Stallions held off Madera for the final minutes to win the rivalry match.
