Atwater soccer shows off depth in rout of Merced

Few teams possess an Eduardo Cebrero.

Even fewer have the luxury of bringing his kind of pace and skill off the bench.

It’s a testament to the depth of the Atwater High School boys soccer team. Cebrero provided instant offense from the bench Tuesday afternoon, assisting on the opening goal and netting two after the break as the Falcons turned a close affair into a 6-0 rout of Merced on the road.

“It sounds like a broken record, but depth and fitness are the two things we think really separate us from other teams,” Falcons coach Jimmy Brewer said. “It’s hard for teams to go for 80 minutes and match what we think we can do, especially if they’re doing it primarily with 11 players. We make runs with the intention of stretching teams and force them to defend the entire field.

“Merced played a great first half, but I think we began to wear them down.”

Cebrero was a catalyst for that. He entered the game at about the 20-minute mark and instantly made an impact, dissecting the Merced defense with a run from midfield in the 23rd minute.

Cebrero drove the ball directly at the Merced center back, forcing the Bears’ defense to collapse on him. As soon as it did, he laid the ball into the path of Zeb Stevens, who one-timed the ball home.

Despite the early deficit, Merced (7-2-3, 2-1 Central California Conference) gave as good as it got in the first half, going scoring chance for scoring chance with Atwater (13-0-1, 3-0). The Bears forced a couple good saves from Falcons goalkeeper Andrew Ulloa (three saves total) but couldn’t equalize before intermission.

“We played good the first half,” Merced coach Bart McAfee said. “After that, we went dead and they took it to us.”

Merced’s emotional state forever changed four minutes into the second half when a mishit ball in the Bears’ 18-yard box turned into an own goal and a 2-0 deficit.

Atwater wasted no time delivering the finishing blow as Cebrero scored back-to-back goals in the 55th and 56th minutes.

A careless turnover handed Cebrero the ball about 40 yards out. He outsprinted everyone down the right wing and unleashed one of his patented left-footed blasts. Cebrero doubled his total less than a minute later, benefiting from a nice cross by Luis Lopez. Merced keeper Jesus Cuevas (six saves) got a piece of the ball but couldn’t quite punch it clear. Cebrero pounced at the far post, half-volleying into the open net.

The rout was on as Lopez chipped in a goal and Stevens added a second.

“We’re a pretty good team, but we know we’re not perfect,” Cebrero said. “There’s always a team out there that’s better than you, so we need to stay hungry.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that can contribute, so when you get your chance on the field you try to make the most of it. When you come in off of the bench, you know you have to bring energy. There can’t be a dropoff or you’re going right back to the sideline. I don’t really care if I score or not this year. I’m just trying to contribute to the team any way I can.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Atwater soccer shows off depth in rout of Merced."