By Jose Terlaje

The sunny and windy conditions of Saturday at GFA Field were perfect for a soccer game as the Southern Dolphins took on the FD Friars in a IIAAG Boy’s High School Soccer Quarterfinal match. The Friars lost to the Dolphins in the regular season but were able to redeem themselves in their playoff matchup as they defeated Southern High 4-0.

Right at the start of the match, the Friars were hungry for redemption and Jestin Escobar was able to use his speed to break past the Dolphin defenders and sent a smooth shot past the Southern High keeper to put his team up 1-0 in the very first minute of the game.

Not too long afterwards FD’s Joshua Lujan sent a perfectly timed through ball that connected with teammate Jake Benito who broke away from the Dolphins’ defense and put an easy finish on his shot, extending the Friars’ lead to 2-0 in just the 5^th minute.

In response to the quick scoring of the Friars, the Dolphins picked up the pace with Napu Topasna controlling their defense and Seth Surber working the midfield and looking for open teammates but they couldn’t get into a steady rhythm.

Later on in the 25^th minute, the Friars’ Tomas Calvo sent a cross to Escobar who blasted the ball straight to the Dolphins’ keeper but he couldn’t hold on to the ball as it rolled over to Jeffrey Ho who picked up the deflection and sent a shot on the ground to the back of the net, increasing FD’s lead to 3-0 and no more goals were conceded as the half came to an end.

Wendy’s Player of the Game, Jestin Escobar of the FD Friars. (photo by Daniel Paran)

In the second half both teams struggled to get into any kind of rhythm and traded many possessions. The Dolphins were constantly stopped by the FD defense and the Friars were called for being offsides almost every time they sent a pass downfield.

In the 65^th minute, the Friars finally broke out of their offensive slump as Tevin Pangelinan carried the ball down the left side of the field, drawing in defenders before sending a cross through the air to Escobar who put his head behind it and the ball bounced right past the Southern High keeper to extend the FD lead 4-0.

As time began to wind down in the half, the Dolphins started to possess the ball more but couldn’t make anything out of it and the refs blew the final whistle, ending the match 4-0 with the Friars picking up the win.

“We lost to them (Southern) in our first game of the season 2-1. It was a rough game and we were playing on their home court. We really weren’t able to take advantage of our chances in that game and that’s just the way futbol is sometimes. Today we went out there and wanted to show how much we improved since then,” said FD Coach Jonahan Romero when asked about the difference between the two teams’ first match and now.

Romero added that the Friars are going to take the playoffs one game at a time and that they will be preparing to take on the Geckos who are running on the momentum of getting a 1-0 upset victory over the reigning champion JFK Islanders.

JFK Knocked Out

In a stunning turn of events, the visiting GW Geckos shocked the defending champion JFK Islanders by shutting out the Islanders in a 1-0 victory.

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Cristopher Bulala puts a stop to Jestin Escobar’s approach to the goal. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Napu Topasna recieves a pass as he makes his way towards Friar territory. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Jestin Escobar connects with a pass and scores with a header. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Tevin Pangelinan runs up the side to set up a pass to the center. (photo by Daniel Paran)

Friars’ Shane Healy steals possession of the ball away from Evin Cruz. (photo by Daniel Paran)