Following a league loss to the West Ranch Wildcats on Tuesday, the Grizzlies bounced back in non-league action with a 1-0 win over the Chatsworth Chancellors on Wednesday with sophomore Jose Payeras scoring the lone goal.
“Tuesday’s game was so emotional, and the boys were just so drained,” Golden Valley head coach Stephen Evison said in response to the bounce-back win following a league loss on Tuesday. “But to get the win is huge. It really is going to put us in good momentum going into next week. We have a bye tomorrow. Next Tuesday, it’s going to give us some, really good momentum.”
Payeras, who received high praise from his head coach following the game, is a starter on varsity as a sophomore and stepped up when the team needed him most.
In the first half, the game was a defensive battle as both teams had attempted shots on goal but weren’t able to capitalize and headed into halftime scoreless.
It wasn’t until the second half that the Grizzlies (2-2, 0-1) finally had a few kicks toward the opponent’s goal that pressured the Chatworth defense.
In the 13th minute of the second half, the Grizzlies’ midfield managed a long pass toward Payeras, who on the first touch dribbled past the defender to stay onside and was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and capitalized with a goal into the net.
After the game, Evison added that practice finally paid off for Payares as he’s been working on drills that put him in the moment he was when he scored the goal.
“I just noticed that he was just placing them just like he did in training like all on Monday,” he said. “And I was like if I can get him in the right spot at the right time, he’s going to do that for me, and it showed right here.”
With the lead, the Grizzlies faced pressure from the Chancellors in the final minutes of the game and throughout the final sequences of the game. Golden Valley goalkeeper Zander MacDonald made back-to-back saves and recorded the clean sheet to seal the win for his team.
“[MacDonald] didn’t play all last year because of an ACL injury, so this is his second game,” Evison said. “So, it’s kind of nice to have that kind of like a fortress in the back. That guy that can really go back, and he’s just been dominant since the last two games and coming up clutch in a situation like that.”
With the win, the Grizzlies don’t play again until Thursday, Dec. 11, against Hart as Golden Valley has the scheduled bye in the next round of Foothill League action. Despite the long break, Evison feels good about the momentum that surrounds the team.
“It feels good, I mean you don’t want those kinds of low spirits going into your next match,” he said. “So, a 1-0 is definitely going to feel up. And I think it’s going to give us really good momentum moving forward.”
Photo gallery from Golden Valley boys’ soccer win over Chatsworth:
