Defending WSC champs score four times after halftime in home opener

Mike McKean
Times Sports Writer

The Hancock College men's soccer team came into this season off the high of winning last year's Western State Conference title, in part due to the efforts of conference Most Valuable Player Jose "Chiva" Miranda and midfielder Mario Urbano.

The Bulldogs also faced the low of losing both to academic reasons before the season began.

If Wednesday's home opener against Hartnell was to be any indication, defending the conference title might not require their services.

Martin Burgos had two goals and an assist, and Isaac Torres scored his sixth goal in four matches as the Bulldogs trounced the Panthers 5-1, scoring five unanswered goals in the final 60 minutes.

"I'd say we've got a pretty good team here," bragged Bulldog coach Al Garcia, whose team is perfect in four matches this year and has outscored opponents 17-7 so far. "These guys played a great match, and the intensity they showed in the second half was just what I was looking for."

The Bulldogs put on an offensive show after halftime, stringing together four goals in 15 minutes and putting what was a 1-1 tie at the break well out of the reach of the Panthers (3-1-1).

It began with Torres, a freshman from Coast Union High who is taking over in Miranda's spot at striker.

He sent a pass across the box to Tito Ponce, who beat the Panther goalie in the 57th minute to put Hancock up 2-1 and begin the onslaught.

Torres got his own nine minutes later when he threaded the Panther defense on a rush and slammed a shot off just outside the box. Hartnell's goalie made the initial stop, but Torres gathered the rebound and put the second shot in for a 3-1 lead.

Hancock wasted little time adding another, scoring again two minutes after Torres' goal. Burgos sent a corner kick to the near post, where Zak Viker sent a header high toward the net. The ball curved to the right, sneaking under the crossbar but over the outstretched hands of the Panther goalie, who was benched afterward.

Burgos, a former Santa Maria High player, rounded out the scoring in the 72nd minute when he caught up with a Billy Barbaree pass and put it in the net.

The second-half spurt far differed from the Bulldogs' play in the first 30 minutes, which by their own admission was tentative.

"I think we were nervous," said Torres, who doubles with Barbaree as the kickers for the Bulldogs' football team this fall. "Just the jitters of it being our first home match, in front of family and friends. Once the game got going, we got into the flow and settled down."

Garcia tried to keep his players from getting big-headed about their early success before the match against the Panthers, who recently won as host of a tournament by beating Golden West.

"I told them that (Hartnell) was well-coached and very organized, which they are," he said. "We came out cold, but the intensity came on after about 20 minutes or so and we played great the rest of the way."

The Bulldogs' defense, which had been solid in the first few matches, came through again despite allowing a goal to the Panthers' Roy Contreras to open the scoring in the 34th minute.

"Those guys back there are making (goalie Jason Hancock's) job a lot easier," said Garcia of defenders Barbaree (Righetti), Homero Vasquez (Santa Maria), Andrew Peliccioti (Capistrano Valley), and Kyle Beattie (Paso Robles). "They played another great match today."

The 5-6 Burgos opened Hancock's scoring attack late in the first half as an answer to Contreras' goal. He leapt between two defenders and corralled a lofted pass from Torres in the box, then fired to tie the score.

Torres had several other chances to add to his goal total, including a point-blank shot in the 54th minute and a sky-high bicycle kick that sailed well over the net in the 50th minute.

While his team was impressive against Hartnell, Garcia would have liked to have seen the Bulldogs' offense with Urbano and Miranda.

"Could you imagine those three together up front?" he said. "Mario just missed by one class, so he'll be back with us next year. Jose, however … he just thought he could come out and play soccer and not worry about school."

"I think if we had them here, we'd be playing for a state title," Garcia added. "I don't know. I think we'll still be playing for one with these guys."