GUSTINE— Gustine Reds boys’ soccer crushed the Mariposa Grizzles with an outstanding 8-1 win on Friday.

Gustine has struggled during the pre-season with an array of losses. But they were able to come out with a win, by a gap against the Grizzles. By the half, the Reds jumped ahead by a total of 5 points in goals.

“We were good in possession, good defensively. We were putting our opportunities away. So overall a pretty good game,” head coach Lino Maldonado commented.

By the end of regulation, the Reds accounted for 8 points as time expired. The boys were able to have a fair share of points as nearly all the players had a goal into the net. Leading the team in scoring, midfielder Eric Mora (10) and Danny Quezada (3), accounting for 4 points on the board.

“I tried to make sure all of them played today and so some of the defenders wanted to go up, so I made the little switch,” Maldonado said.

There was only 1 point scored by the Grizzlies. Maldonado wanted non-starters to get some game experience. The Grizzlies still had interest in scoring, up until the end, resulting in the Grizzles last-minute penalty kick.

“We had two wins in a row. Now we have a tough one on Wednesday, so we’re going to be preparing for that one,” Maldonado noted.

Maldonado has led the team to SAL league wins. Overall, the team is 2-2-1 in the SAL, an improvement over their overall 3-9-2 for the season. For the remainder of the season, the Reds are matched against SAL opponents. 

This week, the Reds boys’ soccer team will home game versus No.2 SAL ranked Denair Coyotes, at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. On Friday, the Reds will travel to Waterford High School to play the Wildcats at 5 p.m.