Boys soccer: Rock Island attack too much for Sterling

STERLING – The Golden Warriors boys soccer team found itself between some Rocks and a hard place on Wednesday night.

It was a rough spot for Sterling to be, as it dropped a 3-0 decision to Rock Island at Roscoe Eades Stadium. The Rocks swept the season series, having won 2-0 earlier this season.

Rock Island's Jordan Rice (left) and Sterling's Felipe Sandoval battle for the ball Wednesday in Sterling. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

Rock Island (5-3) had some golden scoring opportunities midway through the first half, including one by Jake Brandt that caromed off the crossbar, before finally breaking through. Alejandro Torres unleashed a rocket of a shot from about 25 yards that caught the far right side of the net, leaving Sterling keeper Sergio Garcia little opportunity for a save.

The Rocks kept up that momentum. Zachary Beckman scored on a penalty kick less than a minute into the second half to double the score, and Rock Island kept peppering away at the goal.

Some brilliant stops by Garcia and teammate Felipe Sandoval allowed Sterling to escape further damage, but the Rocks kept finding openings in the Sterling defense.

Sterling goalie Sergio Garcia knocks a corner kick away Wednesday against Rock Island. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

“More or less, it was about sending the ball a little bit sooner,” Rock Island coach Rudy Almanza said. “Obviously we’re a quick team, so that ball’s got to get sent a little quicker, although we felt like there were a few offsides calls that were not true. Just adjusting to the speed and distance between the last defender and our offensive player, just giving him a few more feet, that was important.”

Sterling, meanwhile, could not get its offense going at all. A corner kick by Luis Ibarra Rodriguez a few minutes before halftime provided the Golden Warriors (1-9) with their best chance to score. Things did not improve after halftime, as they were unable to put much pressure on Rock Island goalie Ben Samuelson.

“We had a couple of glimpses,” Sterling coach Brian Cebula said. “A lot of times we were trying to take it on our own and trying to dribble through two, three guys at a time. That doesn’t work. Toward the end of the game, there was one sequence where four or five of our guys touched it, and it moved around really well.

“Nothing materialized from it, but I hope they understand that’s what we need to do to get those scoring opportunities. If they continue to do that, they’ll have success.”