Elk Grove offense sizzles vs. Maine W.

About 10 minutes into Thursday's game at Maine West, something happened for Elk Grove.

The Grenadiers scored. In itself this was nothing new because they've scored once -- only once -- in every game thus far.

But this goal, a well-placed shot by Jon Manna into the right side of the net off Anthony Vasquez's assist, did something for the Grens -- it opened the floodgates.

By the end Elk Grove had racked up a 6-0 win over the host Warriors in action at the Lake Park boys soccer tournament.

"We haven't scored more than 1 goal all year in any game," said Grens coach Joe Bush. "The ball just finally got inside the frame for us tonight."

Once the Grens (2-6-1) started to score, they took advantage of a lot of opportunities with well-placed shots. Six Grenadiers found the back of the net -- with Mike Karwowski, Leif Lundgren, Bill Hubly, Anthony Vasquez and Luis Rojas all scoring.

Goalie Andy Larson did a fine job with 8 saves.

"I felt great," Larson said. "The defense did a really good job today and kept the shots light. Our team played well today. If we keep playing this way, we'll end up doing pretty well in the end."

The Warriors (5-3-2), who began the season with a five-game winning streak, seem to have lost the "W" without losing their skills.

"We just chalked it up as experience," said Warriors coach Mike Divincenzo. "We had 24 shots on goal and they had 18. The last two years we've hit this wall in the middle of the season. For seven to 10 games we do nothing wrong. Then, we come out on our home field where we have won 13 straight."

Many Warriors took solid shots on goal, including Angel Herrera, Cody Uidl, David Puka and Danny Montesinos. Keeper Nate Anderson made 9 saves before Jeff Bednarz finished the last few minutes in the net.

"I thought we had focus," Bush said. "I told the guys in the locker room to have fun --that's something that we get away from in high school athletics. It's more fun to win 6-0 than it is to lose 2-1. I hope we can turn this into something."

Leyden 2, Fenton 1: The Eagles took a 1-0 first-half lead in the first game at Maine West, thanks to a Tomas Uriostegi goal on a Nico Gonzalez assist.

After surviving several Bison counterattacks in the second half, the Eagles (3-5-3) played a long ball down the right flank. Rafal Zalewski stepped to the penalty spot and buried his shot in the right side of the goal.

Leyden goalies Gerado Franco and Omar Tariz made big saves when tested.

"We were good until probably the last 10 minutes," said Leyden coach Mark Valintis. "Then they started pushing up and pressuring. We lost a little bit of composure and Fenton almost did it. We got a little lucky at the end, but we'll take it."