Over the past few seasons, slow starts have been a thorn in the side of the Aberdeen Bobcats plans for success.
That changed on Tuesday evening, March 22.
Playing with urgency and aggression from the opening whistle, Aberdeen dominated the field of play en route to a 4-0 league victory in boys soccer over Centralia at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.
“We talked about that and worked on it in practice. It was a big point of emphasis after the Tumwater game. A couple of times we didn’t challenge for the ball and go for it aggressively and it cost us,” Aberdeen head coach Larry Fleming said. “We didn’t play a perfect game tonight, but we definitely were more aggressive and challenged for the ball a lot.”
In a fast-paced, physical game early in, Aberdeen (2-1-1 overall, 1-1 2A Evergreen) took the lead when sophomore defender Isaiah Johnson booted a perfect free kick toward the front of the Centralia penalty area, where the ball found the foot of midfielder Edwin Quintana, who punched it home for a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.
With just under five minutes left in the half, the Aberdeen pressure paid dividends once again when junior forward Kaleb Myers took a pass from junior defender Alan Avalos just inside the 18-yard box, turned and ripped a shot just inside the low near post for a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, one of Aberdeen’s three seniors on the team — forward Miguel Martinez — scored off a long ball to the middle from senior forward Daniel Guzman, giving the Bobcats a 3-0 lead in the 60th minute.
Myers put the bow on top of the victory with his second goal of the game, scoring off a rebound in the 63rd minute.
Fleming said that though his team didn’t connect on passes as effectively as he would have liked, the attacking pressure created Aberdeen’s scoring chances.
“Our high-press just pinned them in their end. They could not get out of their end,” he said. “We sent some really good balls in and had some great chances. Probably should have had a few more goals.”
Though Centralia (2-4, 0-1) penetrated deep into Aberdeen territory on occasion, shots on-goal were hard to come by, largely due to what Fleming said was better communication and marking on the part of the Bobcats.
“It was nice to see we are a little more cohesive already,” he said. “(Defensive leader) Alan Avalos did a great job getting people marked up. Our defense rarely gave them a shot on goal. … I thought we were much improved in communicating in all areas.”
Another key factor in Aberdeen’s win was depth, as Fleming frequently subbed in players to keep the Bobcats a step ahead of Centralia, which had far fewer reserves on Tuesday.
“(Centralia) has some pretty good players, but I think depth was an issue,” he said. “We were able to rotate with our mids and our forwards and stay fresh and they don’t have quite as deep a team.”
Next up for the Bobcats is a league matchup with the Rochester Warriors at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Rochester.
Centralia 0 0 — 0
Aberdeen 2 2 — 4
Scoring
First half — 1, Aberdeen, Quintana (Johnson), 12th minute. 2, Aberdeen, Myers (Avalos), 36th minute.
Second half — 3, Martinez (Guzman), 60th minute. 4, Myers (Guzman), 63rd minute.
