Benicia High School girls soccer team rallies back to beat Acalanes - Vallejo Times-Herald

Just like school, sports can teach valuable lessons.

Unlike its former league, the Solano County Athletic Conference, the Diablo Athletic League presents a new challenge almost every game for the Benicia High School girls soccer team.

The Panthers learned that lesson the hard way in the first half against Acalanes on Wednesday, but the players looked like they had aced advanced placement classes after intermission in a 2-1 win at Drolette Stadium.

The Dons (8-3-1, 1-3-1) scored at the 10-minute mark on a goal from Natasha Malinovsky. Acalanes nearly scored again in the 33rd minute on a shot from point-blank range from
Addie Bailey too but Benicia survived to just trail by a goal heading into the intermission.

Benicia’s Madison Salinas celebrates her game-winning goal with her teammates during the 2-1 win over Acalanes on Wednesday. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

“I didn’t think we came out emotionally ready in the first half for this game,” Benicia head coach Javier Martinez said. “We were flat so I mentioned that at halftime, that I didn’t like the way the team came out. We were kind of nonchalant. All of these games are big. At halftime, I told them that in the first five minutes of the second half, we have to have a lot of energy and we were able to score in the first five minutes of the second half. That turned it around for us.”

That goal came from junior Kayleen Ruiz Jr. in the 43rd minute courtesy of a pass from Madison Urabe-Meyers. The goal seemed a bit anti-climatic as Benicia did not celebrate initially as the players waited for the official’s call.

“My teammate crossed it and it bounced off one of the defenders and I just took a shot,” Ruiz said. “I didn’t think it was going to happen but I just went for it.”

The Panthers continued to play well defensively, thwarting a number of Dons counter attacks in the second half. Goalkeeper Serina Regis was in position for a number of key saves.

Finally in the 75th minute, Benicia’s Madison Salinas got her chance when she took the ball away from a defender, and that forced the Dons keeper to come out. When that happened, Salinas calmly slotted the ball into the right side of the net.

“She put a square ball right in front of the goal, which you don’t want to do,” Salinas said.

Both Ruiz and Salinas acknowledged the team was more aggressive offensively after halftime.

“We tried to not think about it so much, just to go for it and take more shots,” Ruiz said.

Added Salinas: “We talked a lot about our intensity at halftime. We weren’t really in it in the first half.”

The Dons had a few final opportunities in the last 15 minutes but couldn’t convert. With about 6 minutes left, Aliye Wingate got her foot on a corner kick but Benicia pushed it out of harm’s way. Tatum Zuber had the final shot of the evening but Regis was in position to make the save.

“Defensively, we played pretty well in the second half,” Martinez said. “All together, the defense came together. (Regis) played well. She is very vocal in the box. That’s what you need. She was an all-league goalie from last year so she’s very experienced.”

The Panthers (7-2-3 overall) are 3-0-1 through four games in the DAL.

Martinez hopes his team can put two good halves of soccer together the rest of the season.

“I wasn’t really happy with the first half but in the second half we played like we’re capable of playing,” Martinez said. “We played physical, smart soccer and once everybody got on board, they played well.”

Video from Benicia and Acalanes soccer pic.twitter.com/xyCVWsy6iv

— Matt O'Donnell (@modonnellVTH) January 16, 2020

The score

Benicia 2, Acalanes 1

Next game: Friday at Mt. Diablo: 7 p.m.

2020-01-16 06:53:48Z
https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2020/01/15/benicia-high-school-girls-soccer-team-rallies-back-to-beat-acalanes/

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