San Luis Obispo boys soccer holds on to PAC 8 lead with 1-0 win over St. Joseph
At halftime, with the game between the San Luis Obispo and St. Joseph boys soccer teams scoreless, San Luis Obispo coach James Boscaro’s message was time-sensitive.
“The game means a lot to us tonight,” Boscaro said to his team on Wednesday night. “If we win, we have set ourselves up nicely to win the league championship. So I said, ‘Let’s go out there and win the first five minutes of the second half.’ ”
And that’s exactly what they did.
San Luis Obispo pushed forward and got two near-goals in the first three minutes. The continued pressure paid off 10 minutes later, when freshman Branden Dolezal drew a foul in the penalty area and senior forward Brian Finger scored on a penalty kick. The goal was good enough to give San Luis Obispo a 1-0 win over St. Joseph on senior night.
“We put it on the underclassmen to do it for the seniors,” Boscaro said. “This night is about them. To have a freshman step up in that role is great. And to me, (Dolezal) had one of his best games of the year. He was awesome tonight.”
“Everyone was questioning whether we should have a freshman on the team,” said defender Emmitt Fox-Pendergrast, one of seven seniors on the team. “But he has been outstanding ever since we let him on the team.”
San Luis Obispo’s offense created chances all night and outshot St. Joseph 12-3. On the other side, the Tigers defense held in check St. Joseph’s Quinntin Perez, one of the top goal scorers in the PAC 8. Perez nearly made some noise with a flying header in stoppage time at the end of the game — but the shot sailed over the crossbar.
“He is really physical, so I just had to match him,” said Fox-Pendergrast, who used his size and strength to hold down the middle of the San Luis Obispo defense.
The win helped San Luis Obispo (16-3-3, 10-1-2 PAC 8) stay one step ahead of Pioneer Valley (15-3-3, 10-2-1 PAC 8), which came from behind to beat Paso Robles 2-1 on Wednesday.
A win Friday against Mission Prep in the final game of the PAC 8 season would give the Tigers a league title and a first-round bye in the CIF Southern Section playoffs, which begin next week.
Mission Prep (3-18-0, 1-12-0 PAC 8) got its first win of the league season with a 1-0 victory over Righetti on Wednesday.
“We need to not underestimate Mission Prep,” Fox-Pendergrast. “We need to come out flying and finish.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 8:25 PM with the headline "San Luis Obispo boys soccer holds on to PAC 8 lead with 1-0 win over St. Joseph."