Lindsay is held scoreless for first time this season against Reedley
By Patrick Dillon @PDillon_SGN
LINDSAY – Just five games into the season and the Cardinals have scored double digit goals in every contest except one. Last Thursday night the Reedley Pirates five-man back line held the Cardinals scoreless in a 0-0 tie.
“I definitely think we deserved to win,” Lindsay head coach Tony Godoy said. “We had chances but right now it seems like the ball is not going in, so hopefully our luck will change.”
Over the course of the two halves of regulation and both overtimes Lindsay (4-1-1) had numerous chances to get on the board. Godoy believes that his team out shot Reedley 20-4.
The first attack of the Cardinal onslaught came just minutes into the game. Godoy’s little brother Julio got a pass from mid-field. Onside he dribbled the ball once and was a step ahead of the Reedley (1-3-2) defense. He broke to the right side of the box and fired, but missed to the near side of the goal.
“Defensively [Reedley] was very organized,” Godoy said. “It just threw off our rhythm because we had our best attackers up front.”
All game long when the Cardinals attackers made up of Marcos Ceballos, Ismael Ferreira, and Moises Betencourt and others entered the penalty box their scoring chances were quickly turned away. The best chances that Lindsay had to get on the board were from outside the box. In the 27th minute Lindsay’s mid-fielder Agustin Valdovinos fired a shot five yards outside the box. It looked to be right on line until the Pirate’s goal keeper jumped, and hit it over the net.
Even on set pieces such as corner kicks the Cardinals had difficulty getting through. Lindsay went 0-5 on corners. In the second half came three in a row and each time the Pirates turned the attack away.
“I don’t get how we have two guys over six feet and can’t score on corners,” Godoy said.
By the time the two 10-minute overtime halves ended both teams were tired. The only scoring chance for the Cardinals came in the first with less than two minutes left. Julio went on the attack and with one defender on him fired the ball up and over the net.
Tonight the Lindsay Cardinals host the Farmersville Aztecs in the first leg of the Champions Cup at 6 p.m.
