Boys soccer: Barriga, Fenton top Maine West for Novy triumph
Two-first half goals from captain Angel Barriga helped get Fenton up and running toward lifting the championship trophy of the Joe Novy Soccer Invite on Saturday.
Barriga sandwiched his double around an Ivan Jaramillo finish during an eight-minute span as the Bison pulled away from Maine West in a 3-0 victory at Blazer Stadium at tourney host Addison Trail.
"We had a little bit of trouble in the first 10-15 minutes, but once we got that first one, the game turned around in our favor, and we never stopped dominating the first half after that," said Barriga, who differentiated himself with terrific distribution, attacking prowess and outstanding vision.
"When I came here I promised it would be fun for our fans to watch us play," said first-year Fenton coach Victor Cruz, whose team improved to 5-1. "But the guys have had to work hard in order to be that type of team. We still have a lot of work ahead of us."
Maine West coach Alan Matan liked the way his began. The rest, not so much.
"I thought we played real well at the start," Matan said. "We did some very good things on both sides of the ball. But after that first goal we kind of hung our heads a little bit, then got away from our game - especially in our own end, defensively."
"This was the first time this season we've been scored on first, as well as the first time we've been down at the half. So in reality, this was a good learning experience all the way around for us, and I know we'll be better for it down the road."
It was a fast-paced, well-played first 20 minutes, with each side looking to play through its center-midfielders, while also looking to build their respective attacks from the back.
The Warriors (3-1-1) had the better of it early on, and there were a few nervous moments for the Bison.
Emerson Herrera connected with Jason Ybarra to force Fenton keeper Carlos Popoca into action. Moments later it was Herrera at the spot, catching up to a terrific serve from Cory Scholler.
"We didn't play as well as we can after giving up those 3 goals, but the great thing about this team is there's great chemistry, and we all get along when we're together playing, or just hanging out, so we're going to be just fine as a team this season," said Ybarra.
Barriga struck for the only goal the Bison would need at 24 minutes when he buried a superb helper from Jaramillo, a freshman.
Some six minutes later, Jaramillo doubled the advantage on a nifty touch at the back post off a deadly Brandon Arias serve.
It went to 3-0 in the 32nd minute when Barriga easily went past Dean Hernandez from in close after the Warriors keeper made a terrific save on a Sebastian Palacios free kick, which spilled forward and near the spot.
Ybarra rattled the post on two occasions in the second half, and Alex Marron nearly broke through in the 68th minute. But the Bison backline was resolute and helped Popoca earn his shutout.
"We obviously weren't happy with the result, but on the flipside, this game gave us a chance to move a few guys around, while playing some of our reserves to see what we have with them," said Matan.
"One of our goals before the season was to win this tournament," Cruz said. "Now we'll look toward reaching our next goal, and that's to finish top three in our conference."