Nathan Jacobo
Sophomore Diego Henriquez delivered the game winning goal Friday afternoon defeating the Golden West Rustlers 1-0, as the Dons got back into the win column.
Henriquez scored his first goal of the season with an assist from Freshman Midfielder Abel Rodriguez in the 15th minute, which proved to be the difference in the game.
“This goal motivated me, you know we’ve played eight games and all those games I have tried to score but without my teammates I wouldn’t have been able to,” said Henriquez.
Seven years had passed since the last time Santa Ana had defeated Golden West. That finally changed Friday.
“You know we showed a lot of potential today, they were a great team over there, but we broke the chains as we had been losing going back to 2011 and today it is over thanks to the coaches and everybody’s efforts,” Henriquez said.
The Dons now sit at (5-1-3) on the season as they handed the Rustlers their first loss in conference play.
Coach Jose Vasquez shared his thoughts about the battle between between both teams, “It was a battle both ways, they’re a great team over there, they definitely give us a challenge every time they come in here”.
Santa Ana were winless in their last four games and were searching for their first win in conference play going into Friday’s game to get back into the playoff picture.
“We needed a win against a good opponent, the guys showed character today even though we missed things here and there. We just have to keep racking up points and this was a good win for us,” said Vasquez.
The Dons will look to get consecutive wins as they host the Cypress Chargers Tuesday Oct. 2 at 3 p.m.
