Sandy boys soccer gets ‘monkey off back’ with 1-0 win over Century

Published 9:06 pm Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Sandy boys soccer finally got the timing right on that through ball.

The result was a go-ahead goal to break a winless start to the season.

Against visiting Century Wednesday, Sept. 18, in nonconference play, the Pioneers were off on making that connective pass to spring a player down the pitch. They thought they had one in the opening minutes — senior midfielder Marco Torres sent one to junior forward Artem Partyka, but his subsequent score was blown dead for offsides.

That was the theme for 66 minutes of the contest, a promising Pioneers attack marred by that offsides whistle, a combination of a high Jaguar line, early Sandy runs and delayed deliveries.

Then it all came together. Torres sprinted through the defense and got to a perfectly weighted ball from junior midfielder Alex Vazquez Aguilar. Torres collected it, took a few dribbles, then fired it into the back of the net.

“We have been talking about scoring that way all season,” said Sandy head coach Christopher Cramer.

That was the lone score, as Sandy (1-1-2) beat Century (2-4).

“It was not always pretty, could have been 4-0, but we kept our heads in the game and got it done,” Cramer said. “First win of the year, we got that monkey off our back.”

Up a goal, it was a nerve-wracking final 10 minutes for the Pioneers. Century fired everything and the kitchen sink toward goal, trying to find the equalizer. The Jaguars had five shots, including a pair of screamers on frame by sophomore midfielder Anthony Loza.

But Sandy junior keeper Andy Gonzalez was up to the task.

“I was thinking I want this to be over, it was super stressful,” he said with a laugh.

Gonzalez made a trio of late saves, and gave sigh of relief as a Loza take bounced just wide of the goal, to hold onto the win.

“It feel really good, it had been three games without winning,” Gonzalez said. “This is a turning point for us, we can turn this season around.”