Casa boys boot by Petaluma

Round one in what will be a school-year-long sports battle between rivals Casa Grande and Petaluma high schools went to Casa Grande Tuesday evening when the Gaucho boys soccer team rallied for two goals in the second half to defeat Petaluma, 2-1.

The girls get their chance Sept. 2 when the Casa girls face the Petaluma girls in a 7 p.m. match at Steve Ellison Field on the Petaluma campus.

The boys match on the Petaluma field was fairly even through the first half and the first few minutes of the second, with Petaluma holding a 1-0 lead on a goal by Kevin Rojas.

But Casa Grande took charge as the second half wore on, tying the game on a goal David Luis, and then scoring the winner on a penalty kick by Tacho Pacheco.

Pacheco said he really didn’t feel any pressure before booting in the winning goal. “I’ve done it many times,” he said of the penalty kick. “I could see the goal keeper giving up before I kicked it.”

Casa Grande coach Greg Volker was very pleased with not only the win, but with the way the Gauchos played. “They are just warriors, all of them,” he said. “We made some changes at the half and that made the difference.”

Petaluma coach Greg Lamansky said he was frustrated by the second half. “I can’t explain it,” he said. “We gave up two soft goals.”

Petaluma, although trailing by just a goal, and turning back several scoring efforts by the Gauchos with a hustling defense, never could get the tying goal.

The Casa Grande defense of Irvinn Lopez, Ivan Barajas, Angel Gutierrez and Jeffrey Lopez, playing in front of goalkeeper Kyle Harmina, managed to pretty much keep the Trojans away from the Casa goal.