Hat trick leads Dons to first win of the season

After a disappointing 0-4-1 start to the season, the Santa Ana Dons achieved their first win last Friday against the San Diego Mesa Olympians with a 5-1 wallop.

The two seemed evenly matched to start out the game, as both teams’ defenses held strong for the first 28 minutes of play.

The Dons finally broke through in the 28th minute with Andrew Torres scoring his first goal of the season. This was quickly followed by Kevin Munoz’s second goal of the season in the 35th minute.

Santa Ana’s team captain Raul Vazquez boxing out Mesa’s midfielder Colin Babich. Photo by Brandon Rowley / el Don

But the Olympians couldn’t be held back forever, as they were able to score a last-minute goal in extra time before the end of the first half.

“It wasn’t a tremendous feeling in the first with a two-nil lead, then blowing it with ten seconds left, making it 2-1,” said assistant coach Colin Smith.

The second half was an entirely different story. Santa Ana looked much more in control, always taking it into San Diego Mesa’s half but not being able to increase their lead.

Santa Ana outshot San Diego Mesa 14-8. Photo by Brandon Rowley / el Don

That changed once freshman Damian Banuelos came in. He kicked it into high gear and scored a hat trick in just over three minutes, practically ending the game with close to 20 minutes still left to play.

“It really boosted my confidence in general, and I’m glad that it managed to help move the game forward,” said Banuelos.

Banuelos was also quick to highlight his teammates’ contributions, saying, “Kevin [Munoz] helped me get that hat trick. I’m really happy for the team that we got a hat trick.”

Damian Banuelos scored three times in the 70th, 71st and 73rd minutes. Photo by Brandon Rowley / el Don

With the Dons’ defense holding it down for the rest of the game, Santa Ana was able to get their first win of the season in dominant fashion.

Head coach Jose Vasquez is already looking forward to their upcoming games. “This win gives you hopefully a little bit of momentum and confidence and we’re gonna get back out here Monday and start getting ready for LA City and hopefully we play well here before we go away to Fullerton on the 30th.