Tuesday night’s match up between the CSAS Patriots and the East Ridge Pioneers was dead even, except the final score. The Patriots won 3-2 at home in a physical contest that was action packed until the final whistle.
Both squads had plenty of athleticism and talent, any time one side managed to put together a few good minutes on the ball the other would quickly respond with a strong spell of possession in return. Unfortunately for East Ridge they came up one goal short under the lights in downtown Chattanooga.
In the game’s first 20 minutes both teams missed good opportunities in front of goal. The best came in the 17th minute when East Ridge sophomore striker Edy Xiloj Hernandez blasted a free kick from outside the 18-yard-box that ricocheted off the far post. His teammate and fellow sophomore Adelso Perez Mendez blasted the rebound back towards goal, but CSAS senior keeper Mason Thomas was up for the task. Thomas dove to his right and push the ball past his net.
Soon after in the 21st minute CSAS number 12, whose name doesn’t appear on the varsity score card, tapped a delicate header over the outstretched arms of East Ridge goalie Tranquilino Calel Tzun. The high bouncing assist was provided by Patriots’ sophomore Gavin Castle from just inside the halfway line.
The rest of the first half was dominated by both teams 3-man back lines. For East Ridge that was Miguel Garcia Andres, Alexandro Briseno Cruz and David Lopez, who all used their speed to chase down any long passes made over their heads. For CSAS it was Jack Buffington, Eric Chen and Jacob Haase, who were three of the biggest guys on the field and bodied any attackers trying squeeze through their line.
The Game really opened up after half time and in the 51st minute East Ridge junior winger Daniel Garcia made it much more interesting with the Pioneers’ first goal. It looked oddly like the Patriots’ goal in the first half in that a high bouncing long pass found its way into the 18-yard-box and Garcia used his head to nudge it past the CSAS goalie.
Nine minutes later Eric Chen added to the accolades for the Patriot’s defense. An in-swinging corner kick from the right side found him on the far-left post and the junior defender had a clean finish for the game’s third goal score with a head.
The game seemed to be getting away from East Ridge when in the 68th minute Patriots’ senior striker Andrew Cambron scored a masterful free-kick that bounced off the far post from 25 yards out, giving his patriots a 3-1 lead with only ten minutes left on the clock.
East Ridge Goalie Calel Tzun was still playing hard and only moments after letting in a third goal he stood on his head to stop a rifle of a shot off the right foot of Patriots’ winger Marcus Odeny. This clearly pumped up the rest of the Pioneers who played the final ten minutes of the match in overdrive.
Their hard work paid off and in the final minutes of the match Perez Mendez finished a beautiful cross from Jim Roblero-Velasquez to pull East Ridge back within one. That was it for the Pioneers however as they ran out of time before their comeback was complete. East Ridge fall to 1-1 on the night, CSAS stay perfect at 2-0.
“I was happy with how our guys fought back after going down,” East Ridge Head Coach Jeremy McIntyre said about his guys’ effort on the night.
CSAS Head Coach Wes Castle said he like the way his guys attacked and won the ball in the offensive third all night.
Summary:
CSAS 1 2 - 3
East Ridge - 0 2 - 2
Goals: CSAS(3) - number 12, Andrew Cambron, Eric Chen; East Ridge(2) - Daniel Garcia, Adelso Perez Mendez
Records: CSAS- 2-0, East Ridge- 1-1
(Email William Shelton at will.shet21@gmail.com)