ROCHESTER — Javier Paredes Garcia had never played soccer in the United States until this season. The Rochester High School junior is a first-year exchange student from Spain.
“Spain is harder, but all the people, the crowd (are) better here,” Paredes Garcia said. “The only thing (that is different) is the level, not too much though.”
He’s been playing soccer for most of his life. He made an instant impact Tuesday night.
Paredes Garcia launched a stunning bender in the 42nd minute that nestled into the top left corner for the only goal in the Warriors’ 1-0 triumph over Black Hills at Rochester High School.
“A great win, so I think this will give us motivation,” Paredes Garcia said.
It took Rochester (1-1, 1-0 EvCo) until late-April last season to snare an Evergreen Conference win, the only one that year. This victory arrived much sooner and the Warriors celebrated emphatically once the final whistle blew.
They even sang happy birthday to freshman Brandon Reyes-Ibarra in the team huddle.
“All the games should be pretty evenly matched,” Rochester coach Matt Ashton said. “It is a good way to start. The excitement has to do with the first home game and we got a win in our belt against a league opponent.”
Paredes Garcia admitted it has been a mental block to shoot quickly after the first touch. Even when the midfielder is in a good position, he doesn't always pull the trigger.
That changed Tuesday.
Off a throw-in from Jeancarlo Gomez, Paredes Garcia turned and got the ball on his left foot. He fired it from near the sideline and bended it past Black Hills’ netminder for what ended up being the game-winner.
“In my mind, I was saying shoot,” Paredes Garcia said. “This season, I’m like ‘Just shoot.’ When it left my foot, I wasn't sure it was going in.”
“He doesn’t give up, that’s the biggest thing,” Ashton added. “He is still understanding our terminology. You couldn’t have placed it any better.”
The Wolves (0-2, 0-1) had several chances for an equalizer in the second half.
Twice they were called for offsides, had a pair of free kicks end up a touch too strong and couldn’t find their four total shots in the final 40 minutes behind the back of the net.
“It really came down to the synergy with each other,” Black Hills coach Jackie Zvirzdys said. “They came out (in the) second half for each other. It was really awesome to see how they could move the ball around. It is like they got their jitters out.”
Neither side broke through in the opening half, but both had spurts of domination.
Rochester controlled possession and two chances in the span of a minute for a goal. Black Hills generated one chance in the 24th minute that nearly broke the tie.
“We had a problem in the defense,” Paredes Garcia said.
Rochester is trying out a formation with three midfielders, a new approach for Ashton. Multiple times that trifecta moved in when the Wolves were trying to facilitate the ball in the attacking third.
No creases were given for Black Hills through the middle inside the 18-yard box.
“There’s going to be more gaps that we have to know and have the IQ that we have to cover it better,” Ashton said. “It is easily adjustable to (go) back to a 4-4-2 if we had to.”
The Wolves return just three starters from last spring’s squad that was top-half in the EvCo. Zvirzdys is hopeful more match experience and team cohesion can lead to some victories.
“We’ve got to figure out how to connect together and I’m proud of them,” she said.
Rochester is a win away from matching last season’s win total less than one week into the season. Paredes Garcia felt the mood in the fall when he first arrived was less than ideal when discussing what the spring would look like.
Now, he’s seeing an immediate shift.
“The people have to believe,” he said. “This season is going to be proud. This is a good example of you have to believe and you’ll get good things.”
