When Henley (8-1-1, 3-1-1) faced Hidden Valley (6-2-2, 3-1-1) for the first time this season Sept. 21, the Hornets were unable to score in 80 minutes as the teams played to a 0-0 tie.
In the rematch Monday night, the Hornets scored three goals in the first 15 minutes en route to a 4-1 win.
“I was very proud of how they came out,” Henley head coach Lupe Gonzales said. “They put pressure on them right away.”
It was almost Hidden Valley who gained the upper hand early. The Mustangs created a one-on-one scoring chance in the second minute, but Hornets goalkeeper Ivan Garcia made the save.
Three minutes later, Henley’s Aiden Hayes sent a cross in from the left side to Layne Worrell, who put it away to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.
Hayes sparked another goal in the 11th minute, taking a shot from the left side that was pushed out by Hidden Valley goalkeeper Diego Sanchez–right to Max Tobiassion, who coolly doubled Henley’s lead.
The Hornets weren’t done, though. In the 14th minute, Worrell took a free kick on the right side, just outside the penalty area. The shot bounced off the bottom of the crossbar and in, putting Henley ahead 3-0.
“I saw the wall, [and] Kasen [Schols] came over to me and he’s like ‘I think they’re going to jump, so shoot a little higher than normal,’ so that’s what I did,” Worrell said.
The Hornets kept the pressure on through the end of the half, limiting Hidden Valley to two shots on goal and earning five corner kicks and a free kick in the final four minutes. At halftime, Gonzales told his team not to rest on what they’d done so far.
They listened.
Two minutes into the second half, Henley sprung a counterattack after blocking a Hidden Valley free kick on the edge of the penalty area. The ball came to Worrell, who blew past the Mustangs back line before tucking the ball past Sanchez to complete the hat trick.
Up 4-0, the Hornets started to take their foot off the gas in the final 15 minutes, allowing Hidden Valley to gain a foothold. The Mustangs forced Garcia, who had been banged up on a collision in the 55th minute, to make two saves before scoring in the 72nd minute.
As Hidden Valley advanced into the penalty area, Mason Klipfel–who Henley had been tightly marking all game–was able to draw defenders away from JoJo Saunders, creating a wide open shot that Saunders fired over the head of Garcia and into the top center of the goal.
The Mustangs nearly scored again on free kicks in the 73rd and 78th minutes, with the latter resulting in a header that just missed past the right post.
Still, the 4-1 scoreline was a major statement for the Hornets, especially on the heels of a stunning loss to Phoenix (4-6-0, 3-2-0) last Thursday.
“I think the biggest difference tonight was just our focus,” Gonzales said. “Instead of waiting around for something to happen, we made it happen.”
Monday’s win puts Henley back into first place in the Skyline Conference (via head-to-head tiebreaker), but they won’t have much time to celebrate; they head to Mazama (0-8-1, 0-5-0) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Although the Hornets beat the Vikings 5-0 in the teams’ first meeting Sept. 26, Gonzales isn’t taking them lightly.
“Our conference is tough,” Gonzales said. “We can’t look at records and we can’t look at rankings and we definitely can’t look at past results. We have to show up.
“Any given day, any team can beat anybody, so we have to make sure that we come out focused.”
