Boys soccer: Redwood pulls away late in victory against San Rafael
Sam Gersch and Ben Sherry scored goals in quick succession inside the final 10 minutes as the Redwood High boys soccer team put San Rafael to the sword late for a 4-1 victory in Larkspur on Monday.
“What I liked about today was the fact that not everything went well again today,” Redwood coach Will Finnie said. “There have been games where things went against us and we got unlucky and there’s been games where we haven’t done things well and today we definitely didn’t do a lot of things well. That led to part of the game being out of control and shaky but again, similar to other games in the past, this group’s got a bit of character, a bit of calmness and composure to just keep going and stay steady. That showed in the last 10-15 (minutes) when we got the two goals to kill the game. Nobody lost their heads and everyone kept performing the best they could.”
Redwood (3-1-3, 1-0-1 MCAL) jumped out to a 2-0 lead inside the first 20 minutes on goals by Masa Fujita and Gersch. The Giants held on to that advantage until San Rafael (3-6-2, 0-1-0) pulled one back in the 59th minute. With the game hanging in the balance, Redwood came up with the big plays late to secure all three points.
Gersch’s first goal of the game was pure power, a rocket of a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that kissed off the far post and in. His second goal was a product of his movement off the ball.
“He’s worked so hard since Day 1 all four years here on his movement and making one run to pull away from the defense and staying onside, then a second run at the right time to get in behind,” Finnie said. “He got that absolutely perfect and his movement in the tactical side of the game is what he’s done better this year than years past.”
Gersch timed his run and received a pass from Kamran Madani to get behind San Rafael’s back line, which looked to the linesman for an offside flag that never came. Gersch calmly slotted home past goalie Max Gatewood for a 3-1 lead in the 72nd minute.
Eddie Diaz almost made it 4-1 Redwood a few minutes later but his shot hit the post. Sherry was there to pounce on the rebound for the final margin.
“We just wanted to hammer them at the end,” Diaz said. “As soon as we got the third goal, we were like ‘Alright, let’s finish this game off strong’ and that’s pretty much what we did. We all worked together.”
The victory kept Redwood – which has won three consecutive regular-season titles – two points back of Terra Linda for first place. Redwood travels to Terra Linda on Wednesday to face the Trojans in what has been a crucial game in the title race for many years.
“I love the fight in everyone on our team,” Gersch said. “Our chemistry is amazing. I’ve been on the team the past few years and I love playing with all these guys. It’s my senior year so it might mean a little more but my co-captains – Ike [Gebhard] and Masa – they understand the game, they communicate well. It feels like a very high-level team at practice. Off the field, we all mesh very well together and even though the inexperience might have shown a couple of times in small mistakes that lead to goals, kind of like today, I think that we’re going to get better and better. Our goals are still set very high.”
San Rafael started slowly but started growing into the game late in the first half. Gatewood made a series of strong saves during the course of the game to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance.
“In the beginning of the season we were rotating keepers each half and Max would only play a half but the last three games he’s just been huge for us,” San Rafael coach Edgar Hernandez said.
The Bulldogs climbed back into the game when Gio Hernandez turned Redwood over near midfield then passed the ball to Brandon Perez.
Hernandez continued his run, getting a perfectly weighted ball back from Perez then finishing at a difficult angle to pull the Bulldogs within 2-1.
“The weight of the pass, the angle of the pass was very good to set (Hernandez) up from Brandon but then Gio to create the play and create that chance for himself is really good,” Edgar Hernandez said. “That tactically helped us a lot and emotionally we were able to get back into the game.”
Around the county
- Alis Diaz scored early and Reid Brandt scored late as Terra Linda posted a 2-0 victory against Tam (4-3-2, 1-1-0) on Monday in a battle between the only teams that won their season openers. TL (4-3-1, 2-0-0) went ahead in the 10th minute on a free kick by Diaz then doubled the lead in the 68th minute when Joseph Rodriguez assisted Brandt.
- Sean Chamberlin and Willy Finley scored to lift Archie Williams to a 2-1 victory against Branson on Monday. Jackson Richardson and Chamberlin had the assists for the Peregrine Falcons (4-2-3, 1-0-1). Rodrigo Diaz scored for the Bulls (2-4-4, 0-1-1), assisted by Brody Buxton.
- Marin Catholic and San Marin played in the late game on Monday. Novato had a bye.