Oak Ridge overwhelms Diamondbacks

EL DORADO HILLS — In an intra-county nonleague match in which both squads tried different schematics, the Oak Ridge Trojan soccer team bowled over visiting Union Mine 8-0 Tuesday.

“We played well, but there is a lot to work on before league play starts,” Oak Ridge coach Henry Reis said.

The host Trojans got on the board early, as senior Danny Bonal broke through the Diamondback defense in the fourth minute, and after his first shot was stopped by Union Mine keeper Nick Boring, collected the rebound and fired a blast past the diving keeper.

Oak Ridge goalie Tanner Rosenbaum, a junior, played well in the first half, including a full extension dive in the 10th minute to rob Esteban Gonzalez of a possible equalizer.

“We tried to be aggressive from the get-go, and we made some good passes that led to a shot on goal,” Bonal said. “Possession was something we tried to control and that led to more shots on goal for us.”

Not to be outmatched, Boring made some great saves, including a shot off an Oak Ridge fast break in the 20th minute, and made a great stop on a Trojan corner. In the 33rd minute, Boring deflected a Kevin Eccles shot but Eccles got the rebound and, after some fancy footwork, followed in a shot to give Oak Ridge a 2-0 lead.

Neither team was able to put any shots on goal afterwards as the first half ended.

“We really tried to shut down their offense, and that led to more opportunities for us,” Kevin Hanson said.

That mindset paid off for the Trojans in the second half, as they blew the doors off the D’backs. In the 60th minute, Cameron Perkins beat a a mark in a race for the ball to score.

Union Mine got off several shots on goal,but replacement keeper Connor Hayes intercepted a corner kick to thwart the threat. In the 68th minute, Troy’s Alex Piatak scored on a free-kick distance shot to the back left corner of the net, and a minute later, Doug James scored on a snipe from nearly the same spot.

After a shot from Gonzalez went over the crossbars, James crossed over two Union Mine defenders and when the ball was poked back to him, scored an easy empty net goal.

Brian Looper and Dylan Obrochtta each scored for the Trojans, as they cruised to an easy win.

“We held our ground in the first half, but our inability to capitalize on opportunities in the second half led to the match getting out of hand,” Union Mine coach Jason Bourdett said.