A home opener like none other
Published on November 11, 2007 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
California Cougars News Release
Stockton, CA - Nov. 10, 2007 - The California Cougars put on a performance that none of the 5,563 fans in attendance will soon forget. California defeated the Monterrey La Raza 20-10 at the Stockton Arena, marking the second time the Cougars have hit the 20 point plateau in their three year history.
It started with a shock for the home crowd. La Raza was the first to the scoreboard as midfielder Marco Vega scored an unassisted goal just 20 seconds into the game. The goal stunned the fans, but did nothing to prevent the Cougars from answering right back. It took Cougar forward Enrique Tovar 18 seconds to give the Cougars the lead in the game. "Qeeks" lifted a three-point goal over the long wingspan of 6'3" Monterrey goalkeeper Jose Bontti to put the Cougars on top 3-2. They never looked back.
It was the newcomer, Naldo, who gave the Cougars the 5-2 lead midway through the first with his first of two goals on the night. He received a perfect feed from Antonio Sutton, and hammered the goal home at 7:48 into the first quarter. Naldo wasn't the only one with two goals in the game. The man they call "Solo", Chris Handsor, did it as well. He capped off the scoring in the first with a goal 12:46 into the quarter. Fellow expansion draft pick Gordon Chin assisted Handsor on the goal.
The Cougars dominated the scoring through most of the first quarter and then took things over in the second. Eduardo Velez gave California the 9-2 lead at the 8:34 mark in the second. Nelson Santana helped with an assist. Monterrey would inch their way back into the game after star defender Genoni Martinez beat Sanaldo on a penalty kick set up by a Ryan Hall tripping penalty. The Cougars struggled with power plays throughout the night; Monterrey scored on three of five power plays. Dino Delevski also connected on a penalty kick late in the fourth quarter. But, the Cougars countered their struggles in the power plays by completely dominating the scoreboard. The Cougars capped their first half scoring barrage with a Craig Scheer three-pointer, which also took place during a Monterrey blue card penalty situation, set up perfectly by Tovar. It gave the Cougars the 12-4 lead heading into the half.
In the third the Cougars continued their scoring ways by picking up three unanswered goals by Brian Farber, Naldo and Sutton. The three scores were assisted by Naldo, Sanaldo and Handsor respectively. Naldo finished the night with five points with two goals and one assist.
The Cougar offense went quiet through the fourth and had a hard time stopping the Monterrey offense. La Raza picked up three goals in the fourth against the Cougars one. Handsor scored again after a feed from Evan McNeley at the 12:10 mark in the fourth which made it a 20-6 California lead.
"As far as I am concerned, our real season started tonight," according to Cougars head coach Bernie Lilavois. Coach Lilavois led his team to their first victory of the season after waiting two weeks to play their second game. California lost on the road, 11-10 to the Chicago Storm on October 27, 2007. Lilavois admitted to being nervous before his first ever home opener as the coach of the Cougars. "I'm definitely feeling much better now. Our defense looked sharp, but there is still a lot of work to be done," said Lilavois after the game.
The "work" may need to be done on the special teams side of the ball. Unlike their first game California struggled with power plays and according to Cougar goalkeeper Matt McDougall the team needs "finish better at the end of games." The Cougars also committed more fouls than La Raza, 16-11. Those 16 were capped by a five foul fourth quarter. La Raza committed eight fouls in the third, and three consecutive blue card penalties in a span of almost six minutes.
The defense was outstanding throughout the game. Reigning MISL Blocks leader Ryan Hall led the Cougar "d" with five blocks, despite not playing the majority of the second half. Assistant coach and defender Antonio Sutton had three blocks on the night. La Raza struggled with shots on goal late in the game. Monterrey took 23 of their 30 total shots at Sanaldo and the Cougars' defense in the first two quarters of play. Sanaldo totaled 15 saves in the game against 20 shots faced. All but two of his saves came in the first half.
The Cougars improve to 1-1 for the season, Monterrey drops to 1-2. California hosts the Detroit Ignition next Saturday November 17, 2007 at the Stockton Arena. Game time is set for 7:15. Tickets are available online at www.californiacougars.net or by calling (209) 373-1559.
Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from November 11, 2007
- Ironmen get offensive; Club takes home 21-14 win over Detroit Ignition - Detroit Ignition
- Ignition fall to New Jersey Ironmen, 21-14 - Detroit Ignition
- Ironmen head to Detroit for key early season match up - New Jersey Ironmen
- A home opener like none other - California Cougars
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