January 17, 2006 > Newark Pumas

by David Morgan

The Newark Pumas, a U-13 boys division 1 soccer team, took second at the Capital Valley Warm-Up Tournament in round robin play. In the first game, the Pumas were down 1 - 0 at halftime against the Placer Prestige. In the second half, the pumas exploded for three goals. Kristian Fuentes scored first on a solo shot. Fuentes scored again with the assist from Omar Juarez, and then Hector Romero scored the third goal solo.

The second game was a tie 0 - 0 with the Sacramento United Extreme. Pumas' goal keepers Vince Olivares and Roberto Padilla shared the shutout.

The third game was a tie as well with Capital Valley Blackhawks. Olivares gets the shutout on this game. He had 8 saves on 10 shots.

At the fourth game, the Pumas beat San Juan 2 - 1. Pumas were down 1 - 0 at halftime. At the 45th minute Romero tied the game with a solo shot. With less then a minute left, Fuentes brought the ball down the right side, then crossed it over to Eric Nevin who then shot and scored the winning goal. Pumas defense Mike Mahabali, Tony Mendez, Isaiah Liston, Irving Degado, and David Morgan did an outstanding job holding their opponents to just two goals.