Eighth-grader Aguilera-Guzman saves CCS again
Scores only goal of match with 5 seconds left to beat Wayne Christian 1-0
By Randy Jones Staff Writer WILSON DAILY TIMES
Community Christian School’s Salvador Aguilera-Guzman is already cementing his reputation as being clutch — and he’s only an eighth-grader.
The forward scored the match’s only goal with 5 seconds remaining — his second game-winner this season with under 10 seconds to play — as the Cyclones squeaked past Wayne Christian School in a North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association 1-A Carolina Christian Conference game Monday night.
“I didn’t see the clock,” said Aguilera-Guzman, who also beat Neuse Christian 2-1 with a goal in the waning seconds on Sept. 8. “I just got the ball, cut and shot. And I made it.”
The low shot that beat WCS keeper Mason White shocked a game Eagles squad that was trying to record its first victory of the year in 11 tries.
“To lose a match like that, which if we had won would have put us in second place in the conference after losing the first 10 games, it’s just heartbreaking,” Eagles head coach Daryl Anderson said. “He must have a horseshoe somewhere.”
The win upped CCS’ record to 4-8 overall and 2-1 in CCC contests. Wayne Christian dropped to 0-3 within the league, 0-11 overall.
The shot by Aguilera-Guzman almost didn’t happen.
Just seconds earlier, CCS sophomore midfielder Josh Webb got a pass from sophomore midfielder Chase Smith in the middle of the field about 25 yards out. Knowing that the clock was winding down, Webb awkwardly struck the ball in an attempted shot.
However, the ball glanced off the side of his foot and went straight to Aguilera-Guzman on the left side of the penalty area.
Since the defense had converged on Webb, Aguilera-Guzman had time to run on to the ball, dribble a few feet closer before taking his shot.
“He really reacts well,” CCS head coach Monica Mills said of Aguilera-Guzman. “He really knows how to step up, and he does it when we need it.”
Webb smiled when he was asked if it was a shot or a pass that earned him the assist.
“It was a shot,” he said. “But a good team, makes things happen. We knocked it around and something good came out of it.”
Community Christian had dominated possession for most of the match, and would eventually own a 13-8 shots advantage when the game ended.
In the first half, it was Wayne Christian that got the first serious shot on frame, however, when Jaxon Anderson took a direct kick from about 28 yards out that found the head of Nathanael Younge in the box. CCS keeper Davis Stone, however, had no problem with the save.
In the 15th minute, CCS got a rocket of a shot of the boot of Aguilera-Guzman that was stuffed by White. The ball eluded his grasp for a moment, but no other CCS attacker could get to it before it was smothered by the keeper.
Another set piece by the Eagles provided a scare for the host Cyclones in the 28th minute.
After a hard found just outside the box, Younge took the kick and his blast evaded the CCS wall and just went over the top bar.
In the second half, the chances were much more plentiful for the Cyclones, with the first coming in the 45th minute when sophomore midfielder Andrew Huston fed Aguilera-Guzman, whose low shot was saved by White. On the ensuing punt, CCS sophomore defender Griffin Dunlap got the ball and set it right back to Aguilera-Guzman. His shot beat White, but glanced off the far right post to keep it scoreless.
The Cyclones got a big save by defender Spensir Heath in the 72nd minute, once again off a set piece from just outside the penalty area. With the ball directly in the center, Younge launched it off the defence’s wall for a corner kick.
On the corner, Matt Jackson got the ball to Younge, whose blast was cleared off the line as it was headed toward the nylon net.
The rest of the match saw a furious back-and-forth, with each keeper coming up with a big save.
A diving save by White in the 76th on an Aguilera-Guzman effort was his seventh and final of the night.
Mills said the defense, and Stone (three saves) in goal were huge.
“I thought the defense played great,” she said. “They made some mistakes, but they covered for each other so well and supported each other, none of them were too bad.”
The Cyclones will host Cresset Christian of Durham on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Scores only goal of match with 5 seconds left to beat Wayne Christian 1-0
By Randy Jones Staff Writer WILSON DAILY TIMES
Community Christian School’s Salvador Aguilera-Guzman is already cementing his reputation as being clutch — and he’s only an eighth-grader.
The forward scored the match’s only goal with 5 seconds remaining — his second game-winner this season with under 10 seconds to play — as the Cyclones squeaked past Wayne Christian School in a North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association 1-A Carolina Christian Conference game Monday night.
“I didn’t see the clock,” said Aguilera-Guzman, who also beat Neuse Christian 2-1 with a goal in the waning seconds on Sept. 8. “I just got the ball, cut and shot. And I made it.”
The low shot that beat WCS keeper Mason White shocked a game Eagles squad that was trying to record its first victory of the year in 11 tries.
“To lose a match like that, which if we had won would have put us in second place in the conference after losing the first 10 games, it’s just heartbreaking,” Eagles head coach Daryl Anderson said. “He must have a horseshoe somewhere.”
The win upped CCS’ record to 4-8 overall and 2-1 in CCC contests. Wayne Christian dropped to 0-3 within the league, 0-11 overall.
The shot by Aguilera-Guzman almost didn’t happen.
Just seconds earlier, CCS sophomore midfielder Josh Webb got a pass from sophomore midfielder Chase Smith in the middle of the field about 25 yards out. Knowing that the clock was winding down, Webb awkwardly struck the ball in an attempted shot.
However, the ball glanced off the side of his foot and went straight to Aguilera-Guzman on the left side of the penalty area.
Since the defense had converged on Webb, Aguilera-Guzman had time to run on to the ball, dribble a few feet closer before taking his shot.
“He really reacts well,” CCS head coach Monica Mills said of Aguilera-Guzman. “He really knows how to step up, and he does it when we need it.”
Webb smiled when he was asked if it was a shot or a pass that earned him the assist.
“It was a shot,” he said. “But a good team, makes things happen. We knocked it around and something good came out of it.”
Community Christian had dominated possession for most of the match, and would eventually own a 13-8 shots advantage when the game ended.
In the first half, it was Wayne Christian that got the first serious shot on frame, however, when Jaxon Anderson took a direct kick from about 28 yards out that found the head of Nathanael Younge in the box. CCS keeper Davis Stone, however, had no problem with the save.
In the 15th minute, CCS got a rocket of a shot of the boot of Aguilera-Guzman that was stuffed by White. The ball eluded his grasp for a moment, but no other CCS attacker could get to it before it was smothered by the keeper.
Another set piece by the Eagles provided a scare for the host Cyclones in the 28th minute.
After a hard found just outside the box, Younge took the kick and his blast evaded the CCS wall and just went over the top bar.
In the second half, the chances were much more plentiful for the Cyclones, with the first coming in the 45th minute when sophomore midfielder Andrew Huston fed Aguilera-Guzman, whose low shot was saved by White. On the ensuing punt, CCS sophomore defender Griffin Dunlap got the ball and set it right back to Aguilera-Guzman. His shot beat White, but glanced off the far right post to keep it scoreless.
The Cyclones got a big save by defender Spensir Heath in the 72nd minute, once again off a set piece from just outside the penalty area. With the ball directly in the center, Younge launched it off the defence’s wall for a corner kick.
On the corner, Matt Jackson got the ball to Younge, whose blast was cleared off the line as it was headed toward the nylon net.
The rest of the match saw a furious back-and-forth, with each keeper coming up with a big save.
A diving save by White in the 76th on an Aguilera-Guzman effort was his seventh and final of the night.
Mills said the defense, and Stone (three saves) in goal were huge.
“I thought the defense played great,” she said. “They made some mistakes, but they covered for each other so well and supported each other, none of them were too bad.”
The Cyclones will host Cresset Christian of Durham on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
