Riverside Battles to a Much-Needed Draw
By Steven Ramirez/Riverside Coras
After three consecutive weeks of the Riverside Coras Football Club playing top opposition, the Coras welcomed expansion side AS Los Angeles to its home at JW North Stadium. The weather was perfect. The Riverside faithful entered the stadium and it was time for the Riverside squad to break its losing streak.
Since the beginning of the season, the Coras have shown its ability to possess the ball out of the back and attack down the wings. The strategy today was no different, but some of the starting cast was. With the recent injuries to the dynamic defensive duo, Luis and Jose Perez, new defenders like Mike Mercado and Carlos Segura had to step up and answer the call to action.
The match started out in typical Coras fashion. Riverside possessed out of the back, controlled tempo and transitions through the wide channels. Within the first 10 minutes new winger Sebastien Perry was on fire, beating defenders on the dribble. The combination of Perry on the left wing and Alex Zaragoza at left back was crucial to exploiting space. This left wing would lead to the first goal in the 17th minute from leading goal scorer Adrian Moreno. Hugo Gutierrez would break down the wide channel and find Perry in the box. Perry then passed it to Adrian Moreno, who scored his seventh goal of the season.
After the goal the match changed. The tempo slowed and both teams took its time trying to find openings in each other’s defense. AS Los Angeles would begin to press in the last 15 minutes of the half. This newfound energy from LA would help develop chances for its attackers, but no matter how good of a shot they had on goal, they could never break down the Coras keeper Andres Moreno. By the end of the half, Andres Moreno would tally three big saves.
Not much changed in the second half for the Coras, but for the Los Angeles side was able to identify a weakness in the Riverside backline. Once identified, ASLA began to charge down its left wing and find more opportunities on goal. Goalkeeper Andres Moreno would continue to come up big, but in the 71st minute Los Angeles would finally break the draw.
Both teams would continue to fight all 90 minutes.There were multiple strong challenges and each team earned two yellow cards throughout the match. Overall the match was pretty even. Both teams had multiple chances on goal and plenty of time on the ball. What was missing from both squads was an adaptation of gameplay.
Overall each squad put in a strong performance on the night, but it was Man of the Match Andres Moreno who kept the Coras in the match, earning multiple saves, some from back-to-back chances. This draw ends Riversides three-game losing streak and will hopefully be a starting point for when the Coras turnaround its season.
Photo Credit: Catherine Upson
