Palmdale tops Bulldogs 4-0 in boys soccer match
Palmdale tops Highland, stays unbeaten | Palmdale 4, Highland 0
PALMDALE — The aggressive approach by the Palmdale boys soccer team was enough to dominate the first half of a Golden League match at Highland High on Thursday.
The assertive start was also enough to propel the Falcons to a 4-0 victory over Highland.
Palmdale (5-0-1) scored all of its goals in the first half against Highland (2-2-2).
“Good first half, very attack-minded,” Palmdale coach Christian Hernandez said. “My guys came out with the attitude of wanting to score goals and that’s what every coach wants their offensive players to do is score. That’s what they did today.”
Palmdale senior Juan Carlos Lopez scored the first three goals against his former team. Lopez attended Highland High his freshman and sophomore years.
“It feels good to get the last laugh here,” Lopez said.
Lopez scored off a Palmdale corner kick in the second minute, colliding with the Highland goalie.
Lopez scored again in the 19th minute on a breakaway, trailed by three Highland defenders. Lopez was able to score to the left of the keeper from five yards out.
“I felt good, but I feel that we could have done a little bit more, throughout the second half,” Lopez said. “It was good to score another three goals against a former school and take the W back to Palmdale.”
Lopez scored again in the 25th minute when he was able to chip the ball past a charging Highland goalie and score from five yards out.
Despite finishing with a hat trick, Lopez felt he could have done more. The Falcons missed a handful of solid shots in the second half, mostly sailing just high.
“It’s just soccer. It’s a game that goes both ways,” Hernandez said. “You can be very hot and score every shot or you can barely miss and continue to shoot. That’s what we tried to do, continue to play our style and shoot.”
Palmdale junior Jorge Solorzano scored on a penalty kick in the 28th minute.
The Falcons didn’t lack for scoring opportunities in the second half, they just were not able to capitalize.
“It was a rough game,” Highland coach Barry Cobb said. “They caught us off guard, I think, at the beginning and we couldn’t get our mind back in the game.
“The second half they played a little better. They fought. They stayed in the game. The first half they just couldn’t get the mental aspect back into the game. They kind of mentally got put out of the game in the first half, but they continued to fight hard through the rest of the game. Palmdale just outplayed us today.”
Highland will play Knight on Monday, when Palmdale will face Quartz
Girls Soccer Highland 3, Palmdale 1
Jasmyne Stewart scored the first goal for the Bulldogs (2-2-1).
“Against a tough team, they came out very aggressive,” Highland coach Patrick Diaz said. “They came out very motivated.”
Diaz said the team benefitted from playing in a tournament in Texas over the Easter Break.
Sarahi Castro Zambrano scored on a penalty kick midway through the second half for Palmdale (1-3-1), after the referee ruled a handball in the box.