APTOS, CA — Neither heavy rain, nor illness nor injury was going to stop the Watsonville High soccer team.
The Wildcatz overcame several torrential downpours and were playing without seven players - including three starters - yet Watsonville remained perfect on the season with a 1-0 win over Aptos Tuesday night at Trevin Dilfer Memorial Field.
Watsonville junior Anthony Orendian scored on a breakaway in the seventh minute of play and that’s all the ‘Catz needed to secure their sixth straight victory of the season.
“I saw the defender take a bad angle and I took advantage of it,” said Orendian, whose goal was his fourth of the season. “The keeper wasn’t in the right position and I took the shot across from him.”
With the win, Watsonville has started the year at least 5-0 in three straight seasons.
Playing on a fast field that was playing even faster with the heavy rain Aptos coach Roberto Zuniga knew his team was in for a challenge but the coach was proud of his team for keeping it close against a team the caliber of Watsonville.
“We held our own and played very well against a traditional powerhouse,” Zuniga said. “Watsonville is fast and we knew the field was fast and we tried to contain in the middle and force them out to the wings and we did that. The fact that we were able to get some shots off is a real plus against such a good team.”
The Mariners (1-3) had four shots on goal in the defeat as Watsonville keeper Jose Castenada finished with four saves in the win. Keeper Jose Morones had nine saves in the loss for Aptos.
Aptos will travel to Saratoga on Friday for a date against Prospect at 3:30 p.m.
The ‘Catz had eight corner kicks to only one from the Mariners in the game.
Even playing without three starters, Watsonville controlled the pace and the ball for most of the game showing off its depth.
“We really worked well as a team,” said Orendian. “We just came to play and we did the best we could with the players we have.”
While Orendian’s goal was the lone score of the game for the ‘Catz — the first time Watsonville has scored only one goal all season — longtime coach Roland Hedgpeth was really proud of his defense for putting up another shutout, its fifth of the season.
“Outside of one close shot, our defense wasn’t really threatened,” said Hedgpeth who is in his 38th season at Watsonville. “That was it. (Aptos) got close a few times but they never got a shot.”
There was a lightning delay in the 61st minute of the game but after the 20-minute waiting period play resumed without any other delays.
Through six games so far this season the ‘Catz have outscored their opponents by a combined 15-1.
Watsonville (6-0) hopes to have its full roster back by Saturday for the finals of the Homestead Christmas Cup. The ‘Catz will face either Santa Cruz or Salinas in the Gold Division title game.
Last year Watsonville beat Half Moon Bay in penalty kicks to claim the Gold Division Homestead Christmas Cup Championship.
