Valley Christian Opens Homestead Cup with A Convincing Win 11/25

After a tough loss this past Wednesday at Leigh, where the Warriors outshot their opponent 17-2, the varsity team was looking to put some balls in the net.  Wilcox @ Willow Glen was next on the schedule.

With perfect weather, and a nice field turf field to play on, the Warriors peppered the Wilcox goal from start to finish with 22 shots on goal.

The game started off with VC taking possession right away, and firing shot after shot.  The scoring finally got underway in the 16th minute, ending a drought that spanned over 120 minutes.

Kegan Garrison carried the ball up the left hand side and swung in a nicely placed cross.  Aaron Hutton played a nifty no look pass back to Ryan Favre who made no mistake from about 18 yards out.  1-0 VC. 

"It was a great pass from Hutton, and I was in the right place at the right time," said Favre following the game.  For Ryan, that was the first goal of his Varsity career.

Just minutes later, the Warriors would add to the lead on a set piece.  Ross Mark drove a perfectly placed ball from around 40 yards out into the box.  John Field rose above the crowd to nod home the goal.  2-0 VC.  For John, this was his first goal in a three year varsity career...ironically after he made the position change to defense.

"We worked on that play, just yesterday in practice.  Credit Ross for playing a perfect ball, and Field for being exactly where he should've been.  A great goal." coach John Basanese said.

As the Warriors continued to pressure Wilcox, they would strike again in the 26th minute.  Field brought ball up from the left back and played a perfect ball right to the onrushing Hutton.  Aaron carried the ball a few yards before beating the 'keeper to his near post. 3-0 VC.  For Hutton, that's his second goal on the young season.

The guys would wrap up the scoring in the 34th minute with a nice goal from Kegan Garrison.  George Fahmy played a great ball to Kegan who finished the ball near post with a left footed shot. 4-0 VC.  This was also Kegan's first varsity goal!

After halftime, many players saw their first action on the field, and did very well.  The Warriors maintained control of the game, and ended up hitting the post four times.  Freshman Alex de Leon and his brother Christian played well in the second half, keeping Wilcox on it's heals.

The defense could get lost in the wake of a great offensive game, but it should be noted that each one of the defenders played extremely well.  For freshman goalkeeper, Austin Mansker, it was his first shutout of his young career.

Coach Donny Fugate had this to say about the VC defense following the game.

"I was really proud of my guys today.  We made great passes out of the back, hit some checking forwards, and smothered any opportunities that Wilcox was trying for.  Anytime you keep an opponent without a single shot, that's a dominant game.  A great performance today."

The Warriors will travel to Evergreen High School to play the second game of the Homestead Christmas Cup this coming Tuesday.  Come out and support the team!

More photos from the match, taken by award winning photographer John Basanese Sr., can be found here.

vcsoccer.com man of the match: Ryan Favre (1g)

Scoring summary:

Favre (Hutton)

Field (Mark)

Hutton (Field)

Garrison (Fahmy)

VC Starting Lineup: Mansker, Walitsch, Goldsmith, Mark, Field, Yun, Garrison, Rosa-Diniz, Reyes, Hutton, Favre

Weather: Sunny but cold, 60 degrees.

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