Zeb Stevens’ two goals lead Atwater soccer past Merced

It would be fitting if Atwater High soccer player Zeb Stevens dressed up like Lionel Messi for Halloween.

Stevens has a similar hairstyle to the Barcelona and Argentina star, the same compact frame and even wears his socks knee-high in a similar fashion.

The comparisons probably stop there, but in Atwater’s most important game of the season Thursday, the sophomore striker delivered in Messi-esque style, scoring two goals – doubling his season total – to help the Falcons regain sole possession of first place in the Central California Conference with a 3-0 victory over Merced.

The win gives Atwater (20-2-3, 10-1-2 CCC) 32 points, three more than the Bears (16-4-2, 9-2-2 CCC), and all but assures coach Jimmy Brewer’s squad the league’s top seed with two games to play.

“Obviously, there’s still two games left in what’s been a very competitive league, but whoever came out on top today basically had a two-game edge because the tiebreaker is head-to-head,” Brewer said. “Even if we lose a game next week and they make up the three points, we’d still be the top seed.

“We played very well today. I thought the kids were very focused and didn’t have any mental breakdowns. It was probably our best 80 minutes of soccer this season. Hopefully we can produce the same kind of effort the last two games.”

Merced senior midfielder Omar Cortez missed the game after receiving a red card on Tuesday. Bears head coach Bart McAfee shifted some pieces around to compensate, but it didn’t create the desired effect as Atwater was in control from the opening whistle.

The Falcons’ pressure coupled with Merced’s sub-par passing game led to numerous midfield turnovers. Atwater took advantage of the miscues, quickly serving balls over the top and catching the Bears with an unusually flat back line.

Luis Lopez cashed in one of those chances in the eighth minute, playing into a breakaway by Gerardo Delgadillo’s long pass. Lopez calmly slid his shot past a sliding Saad Sohail to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

It looked like the score might remain that way going into halftime, but Stevens delivered a dagger just before the half.

Good defensive pressure from Eduardo Cebrero forced a turnover on the right wing in the 34th minute. The junior striker never stopped moving on the play and received a through pass behind the Merced defense. With the Bears’ defense scrambling to close out Cebrero, he fed the ball to a wide-open Stevens in the middle of the 18. Stevens trapped the ball and picked out a corner to make it 2-0 at the break.

“It’s a little nerve racking when you have so much time to make a decision,” Stevens said. “I was just grateful that my teammates set me up with some great passes.

“Getting that second goal before the half was big, but all we talked about at halftime was how the game wasn’t over.”

Atwater was expecting a wild push by the Bears after the break, but it never came.

Merced’s best chance to make it a game came five minutes into the second half. A well-driven cross found its mark at the far post, but the shot was headed right into Falcons goalkeeper Mario Cahvez’s arms. Chavez finished with five saves in the shutout, but was rarely removed from his comfort zone.

The Falcons had multiple opportunities to put the game away, including a sequence of three posts in a 20-second span. Stevens finally did the honors in the 65th minute.

Christian Olguin intercepted a Merced pass and one-timed a curling ball into the path of a streaking Stevens. Sohail (four saves) was quick off his line, but Stevens manged to nudge the ball just past him, before chasing it down and firing into the vacated net.

“We just got outplayed today,” McAfee said. “They wanted it more.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2014 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Zeb Stevens’ two goals lead Atwater soccer past Merced."