Benefield: Windsor's shutout moves boys soccer team into first place in NBL Benefield: Windsor's shutout moves boys soccer team into first place in NBL
WINDSOR - Well hello, Windsor.
The team that produced some spoiler wins last season and created havoc in the North Bay League soccer rankings before finishing fifth went one heck of a lot bigger Wednesday night. The Jaguars, playing at home, topped the mighty Montgomery Vikings to take sole possession of first place in the NBL, a position deemed by many at the start of the season to be the Vikings' to lose.
The 2-0 win on their home turf moves the Jaguars to 8-1-1 in league play while dropping the Vikings to 9-2.
It also avenges the Jaguars' only league loss of the season, a 3-1 loss to Montgomery on the road Jan. 11.
“This is just a really good emotional high, to prove that we do belong,” Windsor coach Andres Flores said after the game. “You always feel like you have that in the beginning, but you never know until you are put to the test. Now these boys can believe.”
After both sides had a couple of decent chances, junior Olin Piotter put the Jaguars on the board when he headed home a free kick with 11 minutes to play in the first half.
Vikings coach Jon Schwan was less than happy with his team's intensity from the opening whistle.
“Our effort, our attitude,” he said. The things they could control, they didn't, he said.
“Hats off to Windsor,” he said.
The Vikings seemed to have turned it up a notch in the second half but could not make good on their attack.
Sophomore Alan Soto was the source of a lot of the Vikings' chances but he became increasingly frustrated as the game wore on and the Vikings were not able to crack the Jaguars' back line.
The game stopped for a substantial stretch with 20 minutes to play when Windsor junior defender Paul Bossard appeared to injure his shoulder in a collision and ensuing fall. He was taken from the field on a stretcher and play resumed nearly 20 minutes later.
The Jags, at that point, appeared re-energized. It may also have been the winding down of the clock. With every second that ticked by, the Jaguars got closer to moving into first place.
They sealed the win when Montgomery defender Ben Cawood was shown a yellow card for a foul just outside the box with three minutes to play. The ensuing free kick taken by junior Derek Neidlinger was headed home by junior Raymundo Duenas.
But it was perhaps a guy who didn't register a goal or an assist who was the difference maker for the Jaguars. Senior Rigo Barragan was dynamite in the central midfield, controlling Windsor's tempo and providing the spark for all of their movement forward.
“He's definitely increased his leadership, especially in big games,” Flores said.
Barragan credited Montgomery with playing a fast-paced game that required the Jaguars to up their intensity.
“They play really fast-paced soccer. It's really dynamic to play against them,” he said.
It wasn't that Montgomery didn't have chances. Cawood drilled a rocket off the dribble from 30 yards out that hit the crossbar in the second half and midfielder Bryan Rosales was robbed of a goal by a dynamite save by Windsor goalkeeper Leo Bossard.
Bossard was at the edge of his box after punching away a save but the ball landed at Rosales' feet.
The midfielder deftly chipped the ball over Bossard's head for what looked like a game-tying goal, but Bossard scrambled back and fell on the ball at the goal line for the save.
Rosales had a few other superhuman moments in the game, namely a run with less than two minutes to play in the first half that saw him dropped to the ground not once but twice, each time maintain possession of the ball - sometimes with two players draped all over him.
The play petered out after the ball left Rosales' possession, something that happened more than once Wednesday night.
Windsor will not have an easy go of it to finish out league play. The Jaguars face Casa Grande on the road Friday night, the same Gauchos team that handed Montgomery its only other NBL loss.
The Jags must also contend with a streaky but talented Rancho Cotate team in the league finale Feb. 10.
For Montgomery, the season closes out with Cardinal Newman Friday and an always-tough matchup with Santa Rosa on Feb. 7, followed by a trip to Ukiah on Feb. 10.
“It's unfortunate we don't control our own destiny,” Schwan said. “(Windsor) has some tough games. We'll have to get lucky.”
Montgomery was without the services of All-Empire midfielder Carson Wyatt Wednesday. Wyatt suffered a left ankle sprain Tuesday.
Barragan said the win and the way Windsor played shows that the team is for real.
“This is really a game to define if we are about it,” he said. “I've been believing, but this really reinforced it - that we've got what it takes.”
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