Warriors continue strong run in 7-AA
GC boys defeat Model 4-0 to stay in the mix in region
The Gordon Central Warriors played host to the Model Blue Devils on Tuesday night in a match that featured two of the best teams in Region 7-AA, but the Warriors made the gap between the two squads look large during the game. They played very well and came away with a 4-0 shutout win.
With the win, the Warriors moved to 12-3-1 (8-2) on the season, and Model fell to 10-5 overall and 9-4 in region play. Gordon Central head coach Matt Wiley praised his team’s performance.
“I’m proud of them honestly,” said Wiley. “This is a fantastic team. They are great guys. They play well together. I subbed in about three or four tonight so I have backups going in that know their spots and know their roles. So it was a good game and good night for us tonight.”
It certainly was a great night for the Warriors. The game started out pretty evenly as both sides shared possession in the opening minutes. However, Gordon Central capitalized early, when Johnny Rivas headed in the first goal for the Warriors off of a cross.
The game was tight and remained scoreless from there until the 32nd minute. Model surrendered an own goal off of Valentin Avalos’ shot, which deflected off a Blue Devil defender.
That made the score 2-0, and that was the score heading into the half.
Gordon Central came out in the second half strong as they added two more goals.
First, in the 67th minute, Jaime Olivares scored on a header, and Kenneth Cua then put an exclamation point on the proceedings in the 71st minute when he slotted a penalty past the Model goalkeeper to make the score 4-0, which stood up for the final.
It was definitely a good performance by the Warriors, and coach Wiley said was excited.
“We’re playing lights out,” said Wiley. “This is a team that’s come a long way. Our first loss of the season to Pepperell was a tough one because we were so new. They’ve turned things around. We came back and beat Pepperell (in the second match). Model is a great team. They had us down 1-0 in the first game we played against them, and we came back. We scored a goal off a header, and then a lucky one slipped by the keeper. So that was a close game, and I told them Model is out for blood tonight. They are going to be coming in looking to beat us. They’ve already beaten several good teams, so it’s one of those where the season gets defined a whole lot more tonight. If you don’t win this one tonight, it’s going to change the whole dynamics of the playoffs. You’ve to have this win.