Everything went according to plan for El Farolito on Saturday night, as they earned their fourth consecutive Golden Gate Conference championship with a 4-1 win over Cruizers FC of Modesto, California at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
But it wasn’t as easy as it looked.
First Half Shocker Throws El Farolito Off Balance
The first few minutes of the match went according to plan, with Farolito controlling much of the possession and creating numerous chances.
But a goal by Cruizers striker Jorge Medina on his team’s first shot of the match in the 16th minute changed everything.
“Everybody was shocked. Even the goalkeeper said it was a great shot,” El Farolito’s Head Coach Santiago López said after the match. “It really put everybody into a really unsettling and uncomfortable environment. [The Cruizers] came in with a very, very simple game plan to sit back and then two up top to counter and into our back line, and it worked out well on two occasions for them.”
The second opportunity came on a breakaway in the 26th minute, but defender Andres Zuluaga Hernandez was able to block the original shot and fight for possession until his teammates arrived.
López said that his approach was to not to specifically address the problem with his players until halftime, simply to keep calm and let the players work out the problem on their own. El Farolito spent the remainder of the first half looking for at least the equalizer. They created plenty of chances, but were unable to get that elusive first goal.
Cruizers Goalkeeper Gerardo Hernandez also helped keep the host side off of the score sheet in the 31st minute, when he made a tough save on a shot by Edgard Kreye.
The faces of the players and the fans showed visible relief when star striker Dembor Benson was finally able to even the match, heading home a cross in the 41st minute.
Kipre Sacre demonstrated the club’s happier mood with an attempted bicycle kick in first half stoppage time.
“At halftime, I told the players, hey, take that as a lifeline, because it’s better to be tied right now than being down by one,” López said. “I think [Cruizers] formation is way more attacking but then very defensive when they have their fullbacks come and defend with their defensive three to create a line of five. But we were able to push the ball forward and use those spaces in the wide areas to get some crosses in.”
El Farolito Takes Over in the Second Half
El Farolito finally took the lead in the 67th minute. Herlbert Soto took a free kick in the Cruizers’ half. It deflected off of the wall of players deployed to block the kick. Benson was involved in the scramble for the ball, which deflected off of a Cruizers player and into the net for an Own Goal.
A few minutes later, Gabriel Arias took a shot that required Hernandez to make a kick save to keep the ball out of the net.
There were more problems for the visitors in the 75th minute, when Dylan Angeles received his second yellow card for a violent tackle and was ejected from the match, leaving his team to fight on with 10 men.
Farolito finally put the match away in the 81st minute, when Benson dove to the turf to head home a cross from Soto.
And then they added a brief encore in the 88th minute, stringing together a series of passes that culminated in a header from Kreye at the far post to make it 4-1.
Farolito Moves on to the National Semifinals
For their semifinal match in the NPSL national championship tournament, El Farolito will travel to Grand Rapids to take on Michigan Rangers FC on Saturday, July 26.
The midwestern club received home field advantage because the NPSL determined that West Region champion is ineligible to host a National Semifinal because they played one fewer playoff match this year. However, El Farolito will be eligible to host the National Championship, if they win next Saturday.
López said that he’s looking forward to playing against Michigan Rangers.
“I just know that they won their conference, and they just beat Flower City, which is an ex-professional team last season. And I know that they have a very, very strong attacking line, and let’s hope that the weather helps us because I know it’s much more humid and hot in Grand Rapids than it is in San Francisco.”
