Men's Soccer upset No. 7 Taft

VISALIA - Men's Soccer showed the state that they are a team to be noticed after upsetting No.7 Taft 1-0 on Friday.

"This is a measuring stick for the conference," head coach Scott Rogers said. "Taft has been at the top for so long and we put ourself in a great position at second place in the conference."

COS (6-4-1,  2-1-1 CVC) had multiple chances in the first half to get a goal but could not connect. The best chance was Christian Ibarra's (Golden West) free kick which was just sent over the bar in the 8th minute.

Freshman defender Jose Vidales (Redwood) kept the game level as he cleared Taft's shot off the line in the 33rd minute.

In the second half, the Giants took the lead in the 48th minute with the help of Jonathan Gutierrez (Lindsay). His 10-yard right footed curler found the back of the net.

Sequoias' energy was overwhelming the Cougars defense and in the 73rd minute Gutierrez looked to have gotten his second goal of the match. His shot went off of a tire used to move the goal, and bounced out back into play. The tire is inside the goal line but the referees ruled no-goal.

Taft began to seize momentum and string together chances for an equalizer. COS goalkeeper Luis Rubalcava's punch save in the 84th minute and the Giants defense held strong for the remaining six minutes to end the Cougar's comeback.

Rogers had high praise for his defense and freshman defender Jose Hernandez (Golden West) after the game.

"I'm extremely proud with the defense tonight," Rogers said. "Jose 'Lalo' Hernandez is a solid rock back there and he just covers so much ground. He is a division one caliber player and we have him."

COS will travel to Sacramento on Tuesday to play Cosumnes River in the Big 8 and CVC crossover.

"Overall we gave it 100% and that's what we need to do every game," Rogers said. "We are too up-and-down and when we get at a level like this, we can compete with anyone."