GILROY—Teammates call them the “deadly duo”, and twins Jesus and Luis Martinez showed why on Tuesday as Christopher powered past Seaside for a league win on home turf.
The twins combined for a lethal three goals and an assist in Christopher’s 4-2 victory, giving the Cougars a three-game win streak.
Luis put the nail in the Spartans’ coffin, firing a shot from 25 yards out with 45 seconds on the clock. As the ball hit the back of the net, Jesus—sidelined for a yellow card—celebrated as only twins can.
“We’re twins, we feel the same thing,” Jesus said with a laugh. “I was excited for him. …He impressed me tonight.”
“I was surprised,” Luis added. “I honestly didn’t think it would go in, but it felt really good.”
Jesus opened scoring with a long blast from the 20-yard-line in the 10th minute. Five minutes later, he connected with Luis on a cross to put the Cougars up 2-0.
“It’s fun to watch one connect with the other and give him a goal,” Christopher coach Ricardo Espinosa said. “The guys are just playing like we want them to.”
Allen Hermosillo broke a 2-2 tie and scored his third goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 73rd minute. Christopher was awarded the PK after the Spartans tripped a player in front of the net.
The Cougars dominated possession for the first 25 minutes, hammering Seaside goalie Franco Contreras Miranda with five shots. Christopher appeared to relax with the lead and fouled the Spartans, giving them a free kick. Sergio Javier knocked the ball into the near corner, cutting Christopher’s lead to 2-1.
Seaside’s Ramon Velasco Lopez almost tied the game in the 35th, but Christopher netminder Carlos Arroyo leapt up to knock it out. The ball rolled in front of the net, but Erik Valasques cleared it before the Spartans could nab the rebound.
The defensive momentum was short lived as Christopher drew another foul and gave the Spartans a free kick with under two minutes in the half. Javier easily scored to make it 2-2 at halftime.
The Cougars looked like a different team in the second half and made flawless passes to set-up eight scoring chances.
On the other side of the field, the Cougars played stout defense. Tiago Costa, Anthony Ambriz and Velasques gave the Spartans little room to move the ball and helped limit them to three shots in the second half.
“At halftime I told them we had to go back to what we started,” Espinosa said. “I told them what’s been working and obviously they did what they were supposed to do. We got two more beautiful goals.”
The 4-5-1 Cougars take on the Monterey Bay League-Pacific Division leading Pajaro Valley at 5:45 p.m. Thursday in Watsonville. Espinosa said he’s hoping his team can keep up its momentum for that game.
“This is pretty big,” he said. “(Beating) Monterey was big because they’re one of the top teams. Seaside is big because they’re one of the top teams. Monterey tied Seaside, so we’re looking good.”
