Wednesday night, the Greeley West soccer team fell to Greeley Central in the cross-town rivalry match 3-1.
The game was hard fought, with West’s defense holding strong through the first 20 minutes. Midway through the first half, Central captain Daniel Martinez received a pass and put the ball past the goalkeeper into the net to open the night’s scoring, though there seemed to be a blatant off-side that wasn’t called.
Not too long later, Martinez received a pass off of a Central corner kick, and he curved the ball into the top right corner to extend Central’s lead to 2.
Three minutes before the first half ended, West would receive a free kick. Junior Diego Vazquez would take the free kick, and boot it towards the goalkeeper. The ball took a West bounce and bounced behind the goalkeeper into the net to make the game 2-1 heading into the half.
Right after the second-half kick-off, Central would march down the field and score a quick goal to make the game 3-1.
Minutes later, West would have an amazing chance. They would capitalize off of an amazing cross and would put the ball into the back of the net. The goal was negated after the officials controversially called a handball.
Still down 3-1, Greeley West looked to have hope as captain Juan Cortes had a run up the right side of the field. He put the ball past the goalkeeper but the ball rolled wide left narrowly missing the goalpost by inches.
Greeley West continued to attack the rest of the game, but Central’s defense held strong, not allowing another chance for the rest of the game.
As the final whistle blew, Central led West 3-1. Martinez was named the games MVP, and West failed to spoil Central’s senior night, ultimately losing the cross-town rivalry match.
