BOYS' SOCCER: Saints, Gators play to scoreless draw

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on August 26, 2016 1:48 PM

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bcoley@newargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- On the field, the Spring Creek and Southern Wayne's soccer players frequently exchanged possession and aggressively charged at the ball.

On the sideline, however, was a duel in strategies between father and son -- Saints' head coach Mario Aguilar Sr. and first-year Gators' head coach Mario Aguilar Jr.

Just a week ago, Aguilar Jr. got the better of his dad by winning 3-0 in Dudley. But the son didn't pick up a victory at "The Swamp" on Thursday evening.

Neither did the dad.

In a game of tight defense and several close calls, the Gators and Saints fiercely battled to a 0-0 draw.

"We dominated the first half," Aguilar Jr. said. "We had more than 10 shots. So I feel pretty confident that my team played pretty well. We had shots, but they just never finished the play."

While it was true that the Gators came out stronger in the first 40 minutes, the Southern Wayne defense never allowed Spring Creek's offense to develop any rhythm.

There were several instances when a Spring Creek player had open space to find the net, but the shot was either wide left, wide right or over the crossbar.

The same could be said for the Saints on their offensive end.

Many shots were taken by both squads, but few of the attempts were actually on goal. By the end of the match, the Gators tallied five shots on goal and attempted four corner kicks. The Saints tallied six shots on goal and had three corner kicks.

"In the first game, Southern Wayne was disorganized -- they were everywhere," Aguilar Jr. said. "But (Aguilar Sr.) was prepared for the second game. And he brought it."

Aguilar Sr. said that in the first game, the Saints felt intimidated and let the Gators control possession.

On Thursday, he thinks his team did a better job of pressuring Spring Creek and taking advantage of their weaknesses, particularly in the second half.

"It was a good tie for us," Aguilar Sr. said. "I think we have a little more work in shooting, but I think we found that we have the team."

The stellar defensive play by both teams was led by the respective goalkeepers -- Saints' Michael Ponce and Gators' Ulises Vega. The two keepers combined for more than 10 saves.

Late in the second half, Vega left the game with a fractured collarbone after colliding with Southern Wayne's Shyquell Kornegay. Gators' sophomore Kevin Ulloa replaced Vega and maintained the deadlock despite a flurry of challenges from the Saints.

As for the father-son coaching match, Aguilar Sr. said he is happy for his son's success and believes he will continue to improve as a coach. The two teams play twice each season and neither father nor son said that he would treat the match any differently.

"I didn't have any emotional feelings or anything like that," Aguilar Jr. said. "It's just another rival. A normal game, just like the other ones."