LA VERNE, Calif. – The Vanguard soccer programs began Golden State Athletic Conference action on Wednesday and the men's team opened the day with a 6-0 victory over Life Pacific. Vanguard outshot the Warriors 20-9 and
Stewart Alvayero put up a second-period hat trick to help the Lions earn a victory, putting VU at 5-1-4 overall and 1-0 in the GSAC. LPU falls to 1-10-1 and 0-3 in the conference.
What Happened? Despite the eventual dominance shown by the Blue and Gold, the Warriors pressed early and got the first shot in the seventh minute, but it missed wide right of the net. Alvayero would garner the first shot attempt for the Lions in the 11th minute, but LPU keeper Ezequiel Jimenez made the stop. But the 0-0 draw would not last much longer. Jimenez punted the ball down the field and VU collected it and went back up towards the Warrior net.
Austin Tubbs made a pass to
Zachary Miramontes, who lofted a deep ball over the Warrior defense. Jimenez made a bad read and
Nathaniel Gomez was able to leap in past the goalie and boot the ball into the back of the net to put VU ahead 1-0.
Despite a couple of moments from the counter-attacking Warriors, Vanguard would not feel a ton of pressure the rest of the day. That led to more offense and set-piece opportunities were soon cashed in by VU. Gomez had a shot saved by Jimenez in the 21st minute and the deflection gave Vanguard a corner kick.
Cooper Clark delivered the cross and it bounced off of Tubbs across the six-yard box. Fortunately, Miramontes was alert and whipped the ball into the back of the net to double the lead.
Tubbs then opened his account for goals in the season as a tidy pass from
Slater Hammer in the 34th minute led him into the box. With a step and a dribble, Tubbs buried his shot to put the Lions up 3-0, which would be the score at halftime. The Blue and Gold had a 9-3 edge in shots in the first frame and a 3-1 lead in corner kicks.
Alvayero then took over in the second half, as he scored at a minute-per-goal rate right at the hour mark. His first goal was well worked by the team as a whole, as passes through the middle led to a one-touch delivery from
Aidan Doherty to
Donald Kiernan. Kiernan drove towards the right post and then slid the ball over to Alvayero, who was arriving on the other side of the goal, and he easily pocketed his first goal into an open net. His second strike came on another nice passing play from all the midfielders, as this time Doherty gave the ball to
Lucah Flores. He then delivered a quality pass through the back line that Alvayero collected. Driving in on goal from the right wing, he snuck the shot through the goalie to the far side netting to make it 5-0. His final attempt came after another nicely chained sequence saw Alvayero drive into the box and then get tripped, with the referee awarding a penalty kick. The senior stepped up and drilled his shot past the diving goalie low and to the left side of the net, putting the Lions ahead 6-0.
Vanguard held a 14-7 shots on goal edge in the contest and a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks. Alvayero paced the lineup with four shot attempts, with Gomez and Tubbs next with three apiece.
Markus Garcia,
Robert Ronco, and
Aidan Doherty each had two shots.
Edwin Monterrosa made four saves and
Alex Felix made three during his time in net, as neither faced a high-danger attempt.
What was Said? "We are playing much better offensively," said Head Coach Jesus Miramontes. "We have been dominating games like this all season. It's awesome to see the team coming together offensively and putting together a complete game. We had some great goals today and we will build off of this moving forward."
What's Next? The Lions will take on Hope International on Saturday at the Great Park of Irvine at 4:30 p.m.
