Baja steals the Game in the final Seconds

by Matt Warner

Baja steals the Game in the final Seconds



 (TURLOCK, CA. January 27, 2017)---  Christian Gutierrez better known as Atletico Baja’s main man broke the hearts of many Turlock fans after scoring the winning goal in overtime with only 47 seconds left on the clock which finalized the score of 7-6 victory in favor of Baja. 


The Opening period began with Atletico Baja kickoff followed by an aggressive offense lead by Christian Gutierrez who currently sits in the MASL with a total of 39 goals and 9 assists after ending tonight’s game with 3 goals of his own.


Matthew Germain, Martyn Arista and Selvin Bonilla created a play from the back that was thought to have been the additional goal for Express but Baja Goalkeeper Mario Escobar denied the shot from Bonilla and kept the scoreboard at 2-0 in favor of the Early start that Express had with goals by Defender Alex Paz and Midfielder Jorge Carmona.


With a 2-0 lead over Baja, Turlock continued to attack wanting to extend their advantage but Martin Lara catches Express off and proceeds with a counter attack assisted by Uziel Gonzalez that opened up the scoreboard for them.


Atletico Baja (7-7) after taking a timeout re-evaluated their game plan and began to gain possession in the final moments of the first quarter. Christian Gutierrez did what he does best and obtained a one goal lead defeating the clock with a remainder of 9 seconds left. 


The rest of the match continued to be an ongoing battle for goals. Matthew Germain managed to tie the game 4-4 to end the first half. Christian Gutierrez returned for an additional goal followed by Manuel Rojo. Carlos Manzo fights Baja’s defense for a touch on the ball and obtains it allowing him to score his second goal of the season making it 5-6 down by one. It wasn’t until Martyn Arista tied the match at 6:41 in the 4th quarter that things began to look dangerous for both teams. 


As the clock continued to run with a tied game on hand, both MASL teams were in the hunt for possession. No luck occurred in the 4th quarter which lead to overtime. A shootout in favor of Express was called and Ivan Campos took on the challenge. Mario Escobar being the Goalkeeper that he is blocked the shot, taking what could have been the win for Turlock.

Goalkeeper Christopher Welch had extraordinary key saves for Turlock in the last moments of overtime. Just as the crowd began to prepare for shootouts, Christian Gutierrez wanted more and finalized the game with his last goal of the night that gave Atletico Baja the win. 


Turlock is now on the road to finish off their last away game of the season against Pacific division rivals Ontario Fury.   


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