Trojans ‘just better’ in 5-2 win over Rams
When the final horn sounded at Austin Field Tuesday night, the Hot Springs Trojans left no doubt they are ready to defend the Class 5A soccer championship.
Erick Guadron took up where he left off against Lakeside last season, scoring three goals in the Trojans’ 5-2 conference victory over the Rams. Juan Santillan and Adrian Santillan each scored a goal for Hot Springs and Russell Gartner and Philip Gayle one each for Lakeside.
Hot Springs jumped ahead 2-0, Juan Santillan scoring with 1:34 off the clock and Guadron getting one past Lakeside keeper Ryan Viscardis in the 13th minute, before Gartner tallied in the 24th after a scuffle at the net.
“I thought the first 20 minutes of the game we came out firing and then we got complacent with a 2-0 lead,” said Trojan head coach Cory Sturdivant. “Like I told them at halftime, ‘This is a dangerous team.’ Any time you have to come over here and play at Lakeside, you know they are going to be ready; the kids are going to be fired up. They’re some of the toughest competitors in our conference. It doesn’t matter who they have, they’re always going to give 100 percent on this field.”
It was 2-2 after Gayle scored on a header off a free kick by Miguel Arreola in the 51st minutes. That lasted for two minutes until Guadron knocked in the ball from about 20 yards out.
“The first part of the game, we did good,” Sturdivant said. “The middle half of the game I felt like we were letting them control the game and play their game. We came out firing, got that go-ahead goal, and that kinda sparked us and swung the momentum back for us. We kept the pressure on and got the result that we wanted. That goahead goal was the one that really gave us the swing that we needed.”
Guadron converted a penalty kick for a 4-2 Trojan lead, sending the ball through Viscardis’ legs, after Nic Cato was sent off with a red card. Adrian Santillan connected in the 74th minute from just outside the penalty box.
Hot Springs goaltender Manny Santillan worked the full 80 minutes, stopping six of eight shots. Viscardis played more than 70 minutes in goal, saving 15 of 20 shots.
Both teams conceded four corners, three each in the second half. Hot Springs had 25 shots, all but four on goal, compared to Lakeside’s eight of 10 on target.
“We played the best team in 5A,” said Lakeside head coach Craig Moses, whose team lost to Hot Springs in the state semifinals last year. “They proved it to us. They saw what we had, and we gave them everything that we had. They’re just better than we are.”
Hot Springs (5-1) plays El Dorado today at Reese Memorial Stadium. Lakeside (3-1-1) goes to Lake Hamilton on Friday.