It was the tale of two halves, and two second half goals lifted the Wilson Bruins over the Poly Jackrabbits, 2-1, in Moore League play on Wednesday afternoon at Poly High School.

“It wasn’t very pretty,” said Wilson coach Mark Hervin.  “But it was a deserved result.”

The match started all Bruins, as midfielders Tony Gonzales and Spencer Hungerford maintained the majority of possession.  Wilson dominated Poly’s diminutive front line in the air, and was able to earn multiple free kicks on the small Poly field.  But they were unable to capitalize and ‘Rabbits goalkeeper Ruben Rangel made three good saves.

In the 27th minute, Poly earned a free kick of its own and made their one opportunity count.  Robert Dominguez tee’d it up near midfield and sent a nice ball into the middle of the box.  The ball got to goalkeeper Javier Torres, but his punch did not clear it, and neither did any of the Bruin defenders.  The ball took a bounce near the far post, and forward Jonathan Gonzalez was there to put it away, giving Poly the 1-0 lead.

Poly rode the goal’s momentum and had two other chances in the minutes following, but Wilson found their footing again.  Gonzales nearly netted a volley from the 18 yard line, but it sailed high and they went to the half 1-0.

Coming out for the second half, Wilson made the adjustment that changed the game.  Hervin pulled Hungerford up as a striker, making it a three forward attack that effectively spread the Poly defense out.

The change worked quickly.  In the 55th minute Jesus Ruiz chased a nice cross to the near side and was cut down by a cleats-up slide tackle by Dominguez.  He was given a yellow for the aggressive challenge at the edge of the box, and Wilson was awarded the penalty kick.  Ricardo Alverado buried the PK equalizer in the bottom left corner.  After that, it was all Bruins once again.

“They out experienced us in the second half” said Poly coach Garcia, who started only three seniors.  “The tactical things beat us.”

The tactical things were plainly on display six minutes after Wilson’s first goal when they earned another free kick just outside the corner of the box. Ruiz ran over the ball, and Alverado gave him a beautiful touch pass to the end line.  Ruiz gathered it and sent a strike into the box where Hungerford was waiting.  The senior executed the end of the four-touch play perfectly and buried the header on the near side, making it 2-1.

“I haven’t used (Hungerford) up top often,” said Hervin.  “But he adds some height, and he looks so natural at the striker position.”

Poly’s Chris Viray had two more chances in the 67th minute, but Tanner Perkins and the Wilson defense was there both times to deflect and clear the opportunities. 

“They played hard.  They won a lot of second balls,” said Hervin.  “But I think our fitness was better in the second half.”