Central’s talented sophomore Carmelo Villanueva displayed his finishing talents on Monday night, scoring a hat trick for the Purple Pounders. The quick footed forward put himself into the right places at the right times to deliver crisp one-timers into the back of the net.
Villanueva’s first goal was also the first goal of the match, coming in the 28th minute. Most of the work had already been done by Kai Woodard, the senior right-mid made a long run up the right sideline before cutting the ball along the end line toward the goal. Woodard then laid off a nice pass to the waiting Villanueva who put it home.
Before the first goal Sale Creek goal keeper Ashton Smith had put on a solid performance, getting his body in front of several well struck balls. Central managed to keep the ball in their attacking half for most of the first period and the pressure eventually proved too much for Smith and the Sale Creek defense.
That being said there was little the goalie or his defenders could do to stop Centrals’ second goal. In the 28th minute senior mid-fielder Bassam Faleh rifled a shot from 30 yards out that slotted perfectly into the upper 90 of the net. Although Villanueva was the games’ top scorer Faleh was its most talented player. His skills with the ball combined with a big body and an even bigger leg made him a hassle for the Panthers all night.
Although Sale Creek forwards Sami Legg and Michael Gilley were able to put together some pretty good runs at goal, neither were able to really test Riley Martin, Central’s goalie. Martin’s only real call to action in the first half was a rip from Stephen Bolden, which Martin caught just below the cross bar.
Central managed to put six shots on frame in the first half and took twice the number of corner kicks as Sale Creek. A solid defensive effort from Centrals’ back line of Michael Barr, Chris Cannon and Demetrio Dominguez also helped. The Purple Pounders went into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
In the second half the teams switched sides, but the same goal was under attack, at least for the first few minutes. Sale Creek earned three early corner kicks and finally managed to score on the third.
Stephen Bolden dropped his corner kick in the center of the six-yard box, the ball bounced around for several moments with Central unable to clear and Bryce Davis made them pay. Davis had a positive impact on his team all night and early in the second half pulled the Panthers back within one score.
The celebrations didn’t last long however as Carmelo Villanueva struck again just minutes later. His second goal looked almost identical to the first accept the assisting pass came from the left this time.
Villanueva wasn’t done yet however and after intercepting the ball almost as soon as Sale Creek put it back into play he took it straight up the field and rolled his third past Ashton Smith only seconds after his second.
Smith still had his head in the game however and he rediscovered his early first half form with the save of the night after in the 54th minute, but the pain kept coming.
This time from Centrals’ Jose Cortes, who managed to find space inside the 18 and launched a rocket into the side netting. The Purple Pounders weren’t done yet, and in the game’s final minutes Bassam Faleh launched a free kick from deep inside his own half. The ball bounced over several Sale Creek defenders and fell to the feet of Haroun Ghazi who added a sixth goal to Centrals’ score sheet.
“Our defense played fantastic,” Central Head Coach Tim Browder said. “We didn’t get to practice at all last week because of the rain so it feels good to work some of the bugs out.”
Central win their home opener and are now 1-0 on the season. Sale Creek fall to 0-2 on the night.
Summary:
Central 2 4 - 6
Sale Creek 0 1 - 1
Goals: Central(6) – Carmelo Villanueva 3, Bassam Faleh, Jose Cortes, Haroun Ghazi
Sale Creek(1) – Bryce Davis
Records: Central – 1-0, Sale Creek 0-2