El Modena stays focused, cruises past Canyon
ORANGE – The boys soccer season is more than half over, but El Modena coach Chris Snyder still doesn’t know what’s going to happen when the Vanguards take the field.
As usual, the Vanguards have fast, skilled players at just about every position, so they once again should be among the favorites to win yet another Century League title. But then the game starts, and El Modena’s potential doesn’t always lead to the expected results.
It seems like every day, Snyder said, a different team shows up.
“We are not mentally strong. It does worry me,” Snyder said. “Maybe part of it is taking things for granted. It is something that has to be worked on constantly. It is my job to prepare them mentally. Some days we are just fantastic.”
That was the case Tuesday night as Ivan Azpeitia scored three goals and Frankie Munoz added another two to help host El Modena cruise past Canyon, 6-0.
Brayan Fajardo also scored for the Vanguards (8-3-1, 3-1-1) on Tuesday, and it was his goal in the 22nd minute that proved to be the game winner.
He dibbled down the right side of the field, stopping about 20 yards in front of the goal. It was there that he turned and faked out the defender marking him, giving him plenty of space to unleash a line drive that hooked just inside the far post to put El Modena up, 1-0.
Azpeitia then followed with back-to-back goals. Although, the Comanches (3-6-0, 0-5-0) questioned the one that gave Canyon a 2-0 halftime lead. Several players wondered why the assistant referee didn’t call Azpeitia offside. But he managed to stay a half step behind two defenders in the middle of the field before he made his run into the box.
El Modena has scored 14 goals in five league games, but during that span, the Vanguards have been shutout twice. Brea Olinda and Foothill both held them scoreless. The Vanguards, Snyder said, had a problem finishing against the Wildcats, and Brea Olinda did “what good teams do,” making El Modena pay for the mistakes that it made. Brea Olinda edged El Modena, 1-0, ending the Vanguards’ five-match winning streak.
The Vanguards have won the league in four of the past five seasons. But winning it for a fourth in a row, well, Snyder isn’t so sure about that right now. A 6-0 victory might seem like enough to give a coach confidence, but last year El Modena beat two league rivals by that score, and when they met for the second time, both games went to overtime.
“It will come down to the last day. It has every single year,” Snyder said.
