ROCKLIN, Calif. – Men's soccer collected its largest win of the season in a dominant 6-0 triumph over Jessup Wednesday afternoon at Warrior Field. The Blue and Gold featured five different goalscorers, but freshman
Zander Zill enjoyed the bulk of the spoils, bagging a brace and an assist to hand the midfielder goal involvements in back-to-back games.
"We are coming along and playing well," noted Head Coach
Jesus (Chuy) Miramontes. "We scored some quality goals today and really needed them. I'm most excited about the clean sheet. We've ironed out a few kinks and are getting back on track on the defensive side of the game."
The Lions earn their largest win over Jessup since October 2015 (6-1), improving to 5-6-2 overall and 4-1-1 in the Pacific West Conference. Jessup remains winless in league action (0-4) and dropped to an overall 2-9-1 record on the season.
What Happened? The Lions finished the match with 13 shots on goal, the most in two years. It took them three minutes for their first shot on frame at Warrior field, with
Xavier Alcantar carving an ounce of space to get away the shot and force the first of seven saves for Curtis Lynch in JU's net.
The Lion pressure persisted across the opening 10 minutes. The VU press kept Jessup uncomfortable in their buildup play and forced fouls from the home team as Vanguard collapsed as second balls to win set-pieces.
VU's third set-piece of the contest opened the scoring in the 14
th minute, after
Tyler Williams won a free kick from right wing, after being thrown down protecting the ball. VU set up for the right-sided cross but instead rolled the pass short to
Luke Parker at the right edge of the box. Parker burned his defender and headed to the touchline, squaring a cross across the face of goal. His first assist of the season squeaked through to the back post to Zill, who rifled it back across the net and buried it bottom right for 1-0 VU.
The second Vanguard goal came less than five minutes later, off a defensive miscue for the Warriors. VU worked the ball through midfield, as Alcantar checked in deep to lift a through ball over the top to Williams. Williams gained ground going forward, but Lynch cut off the angle and shot off his line to clear the danger. Unfortunately for the JU number one, the keeper missed the swing to hook the clearance, and Williams swept in an easy goal into the open net for a 2-0 Vanguard halftime lead.
The second half saw Vanguard outshot 6-4 by JU, but the Lions were lethal, scoring on all four goal-scoring opportunities.
VU scored inside seven minutes, with a progression up the pitch finding its way to Alcantar on the left wing. The freshman forward used two Lion give-and-goes to inch toward the penalty area. His one-two connection with Zill from the top of the box left the flat-footed Jessup defense cone-like, as Alcantar waltzed into the area unmarked and wrapped his strike to the side netting. It was his fourth goal of the season, and first career tally outside of Costa Mesa.
Jessup managed four unanswered shots after VU's third goal, with their final effort placed on frame to require a save out of
Mario Floriano. The Vanguard response was three goals in six minutes to finish the match in riveting style. The catalyst for the late strikes, were
Henry Garcia and
Anthony Hernandez-Perez, who were on for five minutes before contributing to VU's next two goals.
Garcia grabbed his first career strike in the 70
th minute, provided by a sharp adjustment from Hernandez Perez. The move started with a
Javier Camargo corner kick from the left corner flag, which swung into the danger zone. JU dragged a head toward it to glide it past the back post. Their safety was only temporary, however, as a first time ball from Hernandez-Perez placed a cross back over the top of the defense. Garcia attacked the ball from a near post angle and snapped his header to the bottom corner for his first career goal.
Hernandez-Perez went from creator to scorer just two minutes later. Floriano bolted a free kick from VU's half deep into the JU defense. The Warriors tried to play out the back, but Hernandez-Perez poked the ball off the defender to spark a Lion attack.
Kyle Nelson was closest in support, settling the ball and slipping the assist to Hernandez-Perez, who made no mistake from close range. His well-taken finish to the bottom left corner was his first goal since his sophomore season, during a similar NorCal road trip when he scored the winner at Dominican.
The Lions scored their sixth and final goal from a spot-kick in the 76
th minute. Camargo won the ball in midfield and tidy work from
Josiahs Palacios opened an angle out wide for
Alec Balica. The VU left back worked his way inside the box and cut back before being tripped up to earn the penalty kick.
Zill finished the game as he started. With a goal to the bottom corner. The freshman bested Lynch from the spot to score his first career brace and close out the 6-0 Lion win.
What's Next? Another key road match approaches at Dominican, as VU take on the Penguins Friday, October 16 at 1:30 pm.
