By Spencer Spilman
The Anderson Trojans and Hays Rebels played almost 60 minutes of scoreless soccer until Anderson pulled away late to earn a 3-0 win at Shelton Stadium Friday.
Hays had the early opportunities and dominated possession in the first half, but they just couldn’t put the ball in the net.
The Rebels outshot the Trojans 10-2 in the first half and had the only three shots on-goal. However, they committed four fouls and were given a yellow card right before the end of half.
The Trojans came out looking like a different team in the second half. They controlled the ball and had good shots on goal.
Anderson put five out of their 10 shots on-goal, but they did rack up nine fouls and two yellow cards with their physical play.
Hays just couldn’t capitalize on the chances they got.
Early in the second half, Hays’ John Hinnenkamp made a long run and beat the goalie, but couldn’t get the shot off and the game stayed at 0-0.
Just two minutes after the Rebels’ chance, Anderson scored on a set piece after a Hays foul.
Francisco Ramirez sent in a high lob for defenseman Marcus Collins to finish. Collins knocked it into the corner of the net to take the lead 1-0.
Hays head coach Jason Burnett and his team have dealt with this problem all season.
“That’s kind of been our albatross all year... When that first goal goes in, we don’t have a good answer for that and the wheels kind of come off,” said Burnett.
Hays had other opportunities to score after the Trojan goal. James Turner and Javier Rodriguez both had good chances to put the ball in the net, but they couldn’t capitalize.
Anderson maintained the pressure, leading to a pair of quick goals within the final four minutes.
The first came in the 76th minute when Joey Pydyn got the ball inside the penalty box and put it into the back of the net.
Less than a minute later Uriel Benitez-Cruz took a shot from 25 yards out and the Hays goalie stood no chance. The ball went into the goal in the right upper-90 corner of the net.
Burnett felt like his team played better than the 3-0 score at the end.
“I just told them they controlled the match almost all game,” he said. “We have to tighten it back up and start playing a full 80 minute game.”
The Rebels will travel to play Austin High at House Park on Tuesday.
