When Israel Rojas, Fremont’s star forward, had the ball at his feet at the top of the penalty box, everyone knew that a big play was coming. With finesse, Rojas slipped right through the middle of a scrambling Sobrato defense, leaving him alone with nothing but the goal and the keeper. He placed the ball safely in the low corner, and the isolated keeper didn’t even have a chance.
Rojas’ machine-like precision and “sleight of feet,” helped the Firebirds win 3-1 over the Bulldogs Saturday in the Homestead Christmas Cup, which runs from December 1-22. Rojas added two goals to his total for this year, but was rather indifferent.
“My role on the team is to score,” Rojas said with a wry smile. “When I scored my first goal, I felt normal, you know? Like anyone else, I was happy.”
In last year’s competition, Rojas was the top-scoring player of the tournament with seven goals and one assist.
The first half was slow, and both teams had difficulties trying to create opportunities. Sobrato had the technical skills to win, and the vast majority of their players could handle the ball well. However, the Firebirds could possess the ball more because they made strong efforts to get rid of it quickly.
Fremont played a run-and-gun game of taking a couple touches before relaying the ball away, which complicated things for Sobrato’s defense. Rojas stood out as a playmaker, along with captain Leo Silva, and they overcame a rocky start to control the game.
Discipline was also a factor. Fremont played with flat four in the back, which allowed the outside backs to attack and defend as necessary while two center defenders held the line. The players stuck to their formation and had success.
By contrast, Sobrato’s formation was not fixed, and players often strayed from their positions. The lack of structure helped Rojas to beat three or four midfielders and defenders to score the first and only goal of the half. The first goal acted as a catalyst for the Firebirds to take the lead and run with it.
In an early play during the second half, Fremont pressured the ball into the offensive third, and given the concentration of Fremont jerseys inside of the penalty box, a goal was highly likely. It was the 51st minute when a bad clearing attempt from Sobrato sent a ball bouncing in front of their goal. With a flick of his foot, Rojas popped the ball over the approaching goalie and into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
A few minutes later, a Sobrato defender made a sloppy foul against Rojas about 15 yards outside of the goal. The foul itself was minor, but the referee had been calling fouls left and right. A penalty kick was called, and it was up to Silva to essentially seal the deal at 3-0.
Silva ran up and sent a hard ball into the back of the net, thereby deciding the game. Later, the persistent Bulldogs ran a play that put four or five players into the penalty box. For a while, the loose ball was unable to be scored or cleared, until Fernando Quiroz finally put a foot on the ball to rob Fremont of a shutout in the 80th minute.
Fremont coach Pedro Torres still sees room for improvement.
“Even though we won today, we’re capable of playing better quality soccer," Torres said. "I thought we just didn’t play as well as we could have. We had to change our lineup around a lot [because of injuries and illnesses]. Our goal is to try to win league. Everything that we do is to prepare for that.”
