Lindsay holds off Mt. Whitney for win
Lindsay holds off Mt. Whitney for win
It was the game-winning goal, sailing into the left side of the net from over 20-yards out with less than 10 minutes left to play off the foot of Lindsay High School’s Moises Betencourt, but as the Cardinals fans and boys soccer players cheered the senior barely reacted.
Maybe it was because he’d scored a hat trick last week, or maybe it was because he was frustrated in not scoring earlier in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Mt. Whitney (0-1) in Lindsay’s home-opener or maybe he just wasn’t one to celebrate but regardless of the reason, Betencourt’s calm demeanor and ability to produce when his team needed it the most will be something to watch for this season. “We expect our big players to play and Moi’s been bailing us out,” LHS head coach Tony Godoy said. “He scored three last game and one today so hopefully he keeps going. That guy, I mean he has all the talent in the world, hopefully he can keep it up.”
After going to back-to-back CIF Central Section Division IV finals and winning one in 2017, the Cardinals (2-0) are a very different team from before but still retain six players from that Valley championship team including senior team captains Betencourt and Ulises Lopez. Godoy is hoping that those six, along with the seniors that were on last year’s Valley final team, will help carry them to another Valley final. Except this time, they expect to win it.
“Our goal is to get back again, absolutely,” Godoy said. “I told these guys, at the time they were sophomores, but I told them, ‘Man, if we do not win more than one Valley championship, I’m doing something wrong.” Because the seniors have been together for so long and it’s that group that I was hopeful [could win another Valley title].”
Godoy added, “Six of the seniors have Valley championship rings and they played big minutes on that team. Yeah the other guys maybe shined a little bit more but they had all
experience and then last year those guys played a lot and now they’re back. Maybe they weren’t the go-to players but you can’t put a price on that experience.”
But while their goals are set high, the Cardinals still have a lot to work on and it showed against the Pioneers. Hesitation, crowding, and a lack of ball control were among several of their problems against Mt. Whitney.
Last season Lindsay was a high-scoring offensive group led by two-time East Sequoia League Most Valuable Player and the Recorder’s 2017-18 Orange Belt Boys Soccer Player of the Year, Marcos Ceballos, who led the team in scoring with 37 and 30 goals, his junior and senior year, respectively. And while Godoy feels the team is more wellrounded this year, there weren’t many players stepping up to score until Betencourt’s late goal off an assist from senior Ismael Ferriera. Last season Betencourt was second on the team with 15 goals but had a team-high 21 assist.
“We just need somebody to take control and really dominate,” Godoy said. “It’s weird to say that but we’re more of a team this year than we were last year because we were solely dependent on Marcos taking over. I mean he scored a lot of goals for us but we’re finding ways to get forward with players that I’ve never seen before. We’re more of a team, that doesn’t mean we’re a better team. It’s just we’re more of a team.”
Thankfully, the Cardinals have one more captain in senior goalie Albert Gutierrez, whose constant communication and quick hands in the net, are just as key this year as they were last year.
“He played great,” Godoy said. “He’s so committed to soccer, he plays year round and it’s evident. You can definitely tell he plays all the time. He’s going to play a big role, he’s going to play heavy minutes. Having him as a captain is really good because he sees the back of everybody’s head and it’s very important for him to be loud and that’s what I’ve been seeing so far.”
Lindsay have a big test Thursday when they travel to Fresno for a 6 p.m. game against defending Div. III Valley champion Washington Union (0-1).