Coyotes travel to San Jose, looking to stay unbeaten
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Fri, 05/11/2018 - 9:24am
Event Date:
May 12, 2018 - 6:45pm Riding a 9-game UPSL unbeaten streak, the Western Nevada FC Coyotes travel to San Jose, CA to take on Real San Jose this Saturday at 6:45 pm. The Coyotes currently sit atop the Wild West Conference standings at 7-1-0 with 22 points. The club is also the number one ranked team in the country for the second consecutive week.
Real San Jose enters the contest in sixth place with a 3-2-0 record and 11 points.
The last time these two clubs met was on February 25 in San Jose in the finals of the 2017 Fall Conference Cup. In that match, Pablo Gervacio scored in the second minute, quickly followed by Salifu Jatta in the eighth to five the Coyotes a 2-0 victory and the first ever Wild West Conference Cup.
Head Coach Ian Hill mentioned that this week’s match will be a battle. “Real San Jose is always a challenging opponent,” Hill said. “They made it to the National Semifinals just a few months ago. We know it will be a battle when they play at home.”
Hill went on to mention three players that will be out of the match. “Unfortunately we also have some challenges. Mitchell Brickman is out with the red card from last week's game, Michael Cole has a calf injury, and Kieran Toland has gone back to school for his graduation and will be unavailable for this game. So that's three starters and key members of our team.
“However I'm confident that our team will step forward and the players who haven't always gotten the major minutes will take this opportunity to help us get the victory and make a name for themselves,” Hill said.
Anthony Chinchilla expressed that the team is confident heading into the match. “We’re going into this game feeling confident because our opponent will be quality as they always are,” Chinchilla said. “Playing away from home is always a tough situation but we aren’t going down there for a result. We’re going down there to win. As I said last week, if they are ranking us number 1 in the nation, we have to go out there and prove to them that they are right. We are a target to all teams in the conference now but we need to remain confident in our style of play and dictate the game from the beginning. This weekend is a must win.”
Chinchilla felt that the team is more than capable of filling in the spots from Brickman, Cole, and Toland. “Anyone of our players can be starters for our team. Like how Coach Ian says, “Next man up.” It’s time for them to shine but we all have confidence in one another.”
Manny Medina said that the team is focused and ready to go. “Sure, we can begin to make excuses or put all the focus on Real (San Jose) because they too haven't lost but that's not the case,” Medina said. “We're focused on our game and we continue to do what we've been doing all season.”
The link for the match will be posted on the Coyotes’ Facebook page prior to kickoff.
For more information on the Coyotes, be sure to visit the team’s website, http://www.westernnevadafc.com.
