Cuyamaca College’s quick start was too much for Fullerton to handle as the Hornets were defeated 4-1. The Coyotes scored three goals in the first 16 minutes of the game and didn’t look back. The Hornets were hoping to bounce back into the win column after a wild 4-4 draw against Santa Monica, but they will have to wait until next week.
The Coyotes wasted no time getting the goal scoring going, as it only took them two minutes to take the lead. Coyote’s Wingback Marcos Santillan took advantage of an overbite by Fullerton’s left back David Suarez. Santillan received the backdoor pass and played a cross towards the back post, which was met by Cuyamaca’s striker Esteban Salais, who headed home the opening goal.
Fullerton’s Alexis Villanueva almost made a fantastic goal-line save, but the ball just barely snuck past him.
The Hornets took five minutes to answer with a goal in the eighth minute. A failed Coyote’s clearance fell to Suarez, who took his shot. The ball went untouched through two Coyotes defenders and was redirected neatly into the bottom left corner by Fullerton’s striker, Josiahs Palacios, for his fifth goal of the season.
It looked to be a close game until the 13th minute. A backdoor pass was played behind the left back, which led to a race for the ball, resulting in a foul on Santillan inside the penalty box.
Adding insult to injury, Suarez received a yellow card for the foul on Santillan. Cuymaca’s midfielder, Diego Esquivel, was the one who took the penalty and calmly buried it into the bottom left corner, giving the Coyotes a 2-1 lead in the 15th minute.
The Coyotes weren’t satisfied with just a one-goal lead, as a minute later, they found the back of the net once again. Fullerton lost the ball trying to play out of the back, giving Santillan a one-on-one with the goalkeeper with a perfectly weighted pass from Cuyamaca’s assists leader, Victor Renteria. Santillan took it on his right foot, shooting just outside the right corner of the 6-yard box, and tucked it into the bottom left corner of the net, extending the Coyotes’ lead to two goals.
Once the second half started, the Coyotes slammed the door shut on any chance for the Hornets to get back into the game.
An inviting through ball played beautifully between both Hornet centerbacks found its way into Cuyamaca’s Salais backdoor run. Salais took one touch towards goal and slotted it past the goalkeeper for his second of the game and the Coyotes’ fourth.
Fullerton tried putting attacks together, but most of their shots were saved or went well wide. The Hornets hope to take some positive notes from this defeat and look forward to their next match.
“We’re learning to grow,” said Fullerton’s captain and midfielder Cisco Torres. “Every game, we have to go in with the mentality that we want to win. We just gotta want it every game.”
Fullerton’s attack was held to one goal today on 10 shots. They stand now with a record of 1-3-2.
“We gotta stop giving up easy goals. That’s the objective for next Tuesday,” said Head Coach Greg Aviles. “It’s just one more game, you know, there’s 16 games left and that’s just for them to grow.”
The Hornets look to get back into the win column next Tuesday, September 23rd, against Norco at Sherbeck Field.
