Orland blanks Sutter
Christian Perez scored two goals to lead the undefeated Orland High boys soccer team to a 5-0 Butte View League win over Sutter Tuesday at Sutter High.
“I think we played one of the finest teams in the league,” said Sutter coach Gurdeep Bhattal. “We knew about Christian, how good he was, and we talked to our guys about marking him, but maybe we should have talked to two of our guys about marking him. One of them marking him wasn't enough.”
Ryan McLaughlin, Eduardo Currel and Julio Rosas also scored goals for the Trojans (6-0-1, 2-0).
Sutter (7-6-1, 0-1) started the game well, creating scoring chances for both Chris Haines and Joey Spurling in the first five minutes.
Orland didn't have a shot on goal until the 15 minute mark, but Perez made it count when he outran Sutter's Shane Hodges down the left flank into the corner, cut behind him into the penalty box, and then blasted an angled shot past keeper David Garewal to give the Trojans the 1-0 lead.
A minute later McLaughlin made it 2-0 after a failed Sutter clearance attempt rolled right to him just inside the Huskies' 18-yard line. He controlled easily and hit the open shot past Garewal for the goal.
The two quick goals squashed Sutter's momentum, and the Huskies managed only one more shot on goal for the rest of the half.
Currel and Rosas added Orland goals in the 30th and 40th minute, respectively - Currell's goal deflecting off a Sutter defender into the net and Rosas' goal coming on a breakaway after a nice through pass by Currell - and the Trojans took a 4-0 lead into halftime.
Sutter played much better after the break and actually led Orland in shots on goal for the half, 7-4.
Perez' second goal came on a one-on-
one attempt nine minutes after halftime when he broke free down the center of the field and beat Ted Ford with a nice left-footer just inside the post to give Orland the 5-0 lead.
Three times in the final 16 minutes the Huskies came close to breaking the shutout.
Amandeep Momi had the best chance when he made a far-post run on a Huskies rush down the right side of the field in the 64th minute.
A deflected shot came to him 10 yards in front of the goal and he let loose a one-touch shot looked like a sure goal.
But Orland keeper Alejando Mercado reacted in time, took the shot the chest and held on for the save.
Mercado then denied Spurling twice in the 73rd minute to preserve his shutout.
Spurling's first shot was a quick volley from the left corner of the box. Mercado knocked the high shot up and out of bounds to the left for a Sutter corner kick.
Alavarado took the corner and hit a beautiful bender that found Spurling for a clean header from 10 yards out, but Mercado was in perfect position and held on for his 10th and final save of the game.
“I'm very happy with the second half,” Bhattal said. “They showed a lot more energy. They played as a team in the second half. I think they adjusted to a better team.”
Appeal-Democrat reporter Nathan D. Collier can be reached at 749-4714. You may e-mail him at ncollier@appeal-democrat.com.
