SAN JOSE - History was made on Saturday night, as the Bellarmine soccer team faced Archbishop Mitty in the first amateur match played at Avaya Stadium. Home of the MLS club San Jose Earthquakes, Avaya is in its first year of existence, first opening to the public on March 22.
Saturday night’s event was a treat to anyone who came -- including fans of Bellarmine and Mitty. Each school filled up much of the upper deck seats behind the benches of both teams, adding many chants and cheers that were heard throughout the match won by Bellarmine 2-0.
The game was full of emotion, physicality (which resulted in three yellow cards being issued) and fierce WCAL competition. There were some chippy moments, too, including some pushing and shoving near the end that caused the benches to clear.
Bellarmine is fresh off a season that earned it both a WCAL and CCS championship and is already picking up where it left off, going undefeated in non-league play (4-0-2). The Bells are now 5-0-2, 1-0-0. A young Mitty team fell to 0-1-2, 0-1-0.
Many of the talented players on Mitty’s side are sophomores and juniors, who believe that the more chemistry they build, the stronger of a performance will be shown out on the pitch.
The two goals scored by the Bells came in the second half, with one being scored just five minutes after intermission. Much of the pace in the first half was controlled by Mitty, which was able to create more scoring chances than Bellarmine.
“In the first half we were a little rattled,” Bellarmine coach Conor Salcido said. “We were a little reserved playing under the lights, in a nice new stadium. We settled in better in the second half, controlling possession, which is what I feel like helped us out the most.”
In the 46th minute, senior forward Patrick Burke of the Bells was served a header from a small cross inside the box and was able to deposit it into the bottom right area of the goal. Chris Romano, goalkeeper of the Monarchs, made the save, but the ball rebounded back into the feet of Burke would buried it into the net to break the scoreless tie.
“Their front line holds the ball very well,” Monarchs coach Cesar Sanchez said, crediting the performance of Bellarmine. “They controlled the pace of the game from then on, while we were just trying to keep the ball to ourselves. They owned possession and were able to score.”
The Bells' other goal came in the 77th minute when Connor Brady took one touch off a pass and scorched it from about 25 yards away into the goal, giving no chance for Romano to make a save.
“When Marte got the ball he just laid it off and instinct took over from there. I told him to get it to the strong side which is my right foot and I just let it rip.”
The key factor in the win for the Bells was their ability to create space in the second half. In the first half, they weren’t able to get the ball around easily. Once the midfielders were stretched out, they were able to open up chances to take runs that created opportunities for the forwards to counter-attack.
“This team works really hard," Salcido said. "They’re athletic and have technical skill. We haven’t lost much from last season. If this team gets rolling early, there’s nothing to stop us from possibly going undefeated in league and even farther.”
The game was not a total loss for Mitty.
“We best succeed when we’re moving the ball and attacking with numbers,” Mitty junior captain Makenna Pendleton said. “When we didn’t go as a team it just didn’t work out. The guys that truly wanted it helped us out the most. We just need to come back and work hard to improve as much as we can.”
Mitty is at Alisal on Dec. 22. The Bells host Archbishop Riordan on Jan. 6.
