Arellano sends Centaurus past JA
Warriors chalk up another solid victory
Signaling a new era for Centaurus’ soccer program, the interim tag on David Wood was dropped this season as the departure of its longtime coach Lee Stanley became permanent.
The new-look Warriors, who are without a postseason victory since superstar forwards Fernando Ruiz and Christian Nunez were last with the program in 2019, truly believe they’re headed back in the right direction. Thursday night’s 2-1 victory on the road at Class 3A No. 1 Jefferson Academy was measured as another nice confidence boost.
“We’ve already had a couple wins and reason to feel confident,” Wood said. “But just one more feather in the cap (tonight) really makes us feel like we can do this.”
Alejandro Arellano scored the game-winning goal with 1:35 remaining after a series of nice saves from keeper Garrett Pugh, and the Warriors handed the Jaguars their first loss at home since March of 2020.
On the winning setup, Vincent Renton delivered a free kick in front of the net to Arellano. Positioned
just left of the net, the senior captain took a touch off his chest and ripped a chance past keeper Josh Neely to help Centaurus improve to 3-2 on the season.
He was rushed by teammates then, and following the final whistle.
One teammate later handed him a stack of cookies.
“I won them,” he smiled, noting his team is pretty sweet, too. “I think back then we had Christian and Fernando that were allstars, and I think this team this year has a lot of good players. We all just work together and just try to succeed every day.”
Against the backdrop of a blinding orange sun’s last breaths