“Now it’s on us to take it one game at a time,” said head coach Julio Ayala, adding that the team is “making sure we are working hard and ready to get the win.”
After a 3-0 win against Merritt College on Oct. 22, the Contra Costa Comets continued their winning streak against Yuba College Friday, beating the Miners 3-0.
“It was a good performance and we got the result,” Ayala said of the team’s performance. “We were looking to put some more goals away. The most important thing is to build off this game, learn from it and use it as a stepping stone for us to head into next week.”
He added, “I’m glad we got the dub. It was not easy. Our opponent came in and made it complicated for us.”
After the game was postponed for 15 minutes, the Comets looked to take advantage of the game against Yuba, which is not having a good season and only had 10 players for the matchup.
At the kickoff the Comets used their number advantage by tiring out Yuba, having them chase after the ball, and once they got tired would send a long ball out wide to help create chances to score. However, the Comets seemed too comfortable, as they were not using their common tactic of intense pressure.
However, determined to make the Comets earn a win, Yuba played hard and aggressive. Everytime Yuba players had possession of the ball, they appeared to waste time any way they could by kicking the ball as far as possible or bringing in a foul.
The Comets would get many opportunities to get the lead but couldn’t find the back of the net until the 28-minute mark, when defender Diego Castro made an amazing run, taking on two of Yuba’s defenders to cross the ball for a deflection for Emilio Cerritos to do an amazing scissor kick. That broughtthe score to 1-0.
Yuba was still determined to play, even with the numbers disadvantage, and made it difficult for the Comets to find another goal in the first half. The Comets would get chance after chance but couldn’t score.
At halftime, the Comets were not content with their performance, as they felt they were lagging in intensity and quality, as expressed by players and coaches.
“We are dropping down to their level of play,” one of the coaches said to players during the game.
Going into the second half, the Comets were ready to find a second goal. They started the half pressuring Yuba.. However, Yuba caught the Comets off guard with a through ball into the box, and goalkeeper Brayan Olivares committed a foul.
Yuba had a chance to tie the game, but Olivares made up for his mistake and made a tremendous save to keep the game 1-0.
Soon after, the Comets would catch Yuba off guard again with a cross in the box by Rhett Kofford. A Yuba defender scored into the team’s own goal, giving Contra Costa another point and making the score 2-0.
After failing to score through several more opportunities,the Comets finally brought the score to 3-0 afterBrandon Garay slotted the ball to the top corner.