WATSONVILLE — A pair of powerful rivals ranked within the top 53 teams in the state, big diving saves, all-out physical play, airtight defense, a rocking crowd and a perfectly sunny Saturday afternoon.
The only thing that was missing from Watsonville High and Alisal High’s battle was a Central Coast Section trophy.
“Every time we play Alisal it feels like a (CCS) final,” said Watsonville junior defender Ricardo Alvarado.
It might as well have been.
The longtime Monterey Bay League Gabilan division rivals played to an unsatisfying scoreless tie at Emmett M. Geiser Field that left the teams, coaches and dozens of fans wanting more.
The final result and lack of goals irked both squads. The fact the back-and-forth barnburner had to end at all, sent everyone else home hungry for more.
“It felt like a final,” said Watsonville senior forward Alex Gonzalez. “We went with that mentality. The guys gave it their all. I think, personally, we deserved the win, but that’s not how soccer is. You have to score the goals to win the game.”
And both teams came close on a handful of occasions.
Watsonville (8-3-4, 2-1-4), ranked 53rd in California by MaxPreps, dominated the possession in the first, and had a few promising moments in transition during the final 40.
Alisal (10-1-3, 5-1-1), which is ranked 5th in the state and has scored 31 goals in its five league wins, was only able to find its explosive offensive form in spurts, but was dangerous when things clicked.
Each team finished with six shots on goal, but both defenses and keepers made plays when they needed to, and also had some luck help their cause.
Watsonville sophomore forward Alexis Valenzuela hit the crossbar on a one-on-one situation in the 15th minute, senior midfielder Erik Herrera’s header off a corner kick a few minutes later was saved just inches before going in and senior forward Jose Villanueva misfired on a point-blank look early in the second half.
A header from Alisal senior midfielder Jesus Ochoa just minutes before the half missed its mark by inches, and a wide-open shot from just outside the box with less than 15 minutes left went wide right off the side of junior midfielder Osvaldo Avalos’ foot.
“They’re an improved team. We knew they were going to be tough,” said Alisal head coach Mark Cisneros. “We tried. I thought we attacked well, and we created some chances — so did they. We just weren’t as aggressive on offense as we should have been.”
The officials swallowed their whistles for the majority of the afternoon, allowing the players to play through hip checks, rough tackles and jersey holding much to the dismay of the fans, who constantly voiced their disapproval with whistles and heckles when a call went the opposite way. The play did get chippy — Alisal had a pair of yellow cards and Watsonville received one — but never escalated beyond an exchange of words.
“We do expect a tough game, but not to hurt each other, obviously,” Alvarado said.
With five games left, Watsonville isn’t completely out of the league title hunt, but the Wildcatz would need a herculean effort down the stretch to unseat two-time defending champ Alisal, which leads San Benito High (7-0-6, 4-0-3) by two points.
The possibility of the two teams meeting in the CCS playoffs, however, is still up in the air.
So Saturday’s result could ultimately serve as a bookmark of a tightly contested tale that could possibly see a third chapter.
Watsonville will try to continue its march to one of the league’s three automatic CCS bids on Tuesday at home against Alvarez High at 6:45 p.m.
“We wanted to win, but we got a tie,” Alvarado said. “It’s not perfect, but we’re two good teams.”
The first chapter of this year’s rivalry featured a landslide 4-0 Alisal victory in the teams’ MBL-G opener.
The deflating loss seems to have served as an awakening jolt for Watsonville, which has not lost since, and has steadily improved over the past few weeks.
“We weren’t playing as a team then like we are now,” Alvarado said. “We have good talent, but we weren’t playing together. Now, we got it together, and we’re doing better.”
And it showed.
Watsonville’s communication in the midfield and backline was almost perfect, and the effort was impressive, as the Wildcatz forced Alisal out to the edges. The fact that head coach Roland Hedgpeth decided to drop another player into the backline to help his team deal with the Trojans’ constant pressure, also didn’t hurt.
“The whole week we worked on our backline,” Gonzalez said. “That was part of the game plan. We wanted to make the field wide, and create more opportunities for us.”
