The Orchard Valley Knights U9 boys soccer team, coached by Hugo
Ojeda and Mike Mercurio, took first place at the
”
On Your Toes
”
Hannah Welker tournament held in Morgan Hill this past
weekend.
The Orchard Valley Knights U9 boys soccer team, coached by Hugo Ojeda and Mike Mercurio, took first place at the “On Your Toes” Hannah Welker tournament held in Morgan Hill this past weekend.
After going 2-0-1 in their first three games of the tournament, the Knights advanced to the final game.
In the final game, the Knights played hard against an aggressive South San Jose Tigers team. Right before halftime, Caleb Ojeda scored to tie the game 1-1. Jesus Duran got the final score to win the game 2-1. The strong defensive plays and hustle of Niko Katsuyoshi, Cory Taylor and Jack Tomlinson, and a great goalie save by Ethan Gonzales, kept the Tigers from scoring in the second half.
The Knights were unsure if they had won the tournament until the official scorer tallied the points and announced that Knights won the tournament by one point.
“To date this was the most aggressive play we have seen out of this group of boys. It was a very competitive bracket up for grabs. Flat out, our kids battled harder and took that trophy with their hearts,” said coach Mike Mercurio.
In the first game against South SJ Force, the Knights Blake Mercurio scored a goal in the first half to tie the game. The Knights went down 2-1 in the second but came back to score two goals in the last five minutes by Gabriel Cornejo and Ben Perron to win the game.
The second game against the Los Gatos United Panthers was a tough, hard- fought game, which ended in a 2-2 tie. The Knights tied it up before half with a nice goal by Ojeda. Late in the game, Brahel Morales had a breakaway goal to tie the game 2-2. Some great defensive stops were made by Davis Arca and Owen McCarry to keep this game close.
The third game against the OVYSL Blackhawks started with an early goal from Mercurio. At halftime, the score was tied 1-1. Duran kicked the ball so hard it slipped out of the goalie’s hands for a goal. Jesus and Ethan Gonzales got the next two goals, which led to a 4-1 win.
