Perry sophomore Mario Saldana scored three times in the opening 15 minutes of Tuesday’s Raccoon River Conference boys soccer match against visiting Ballard to help power the Bluejays to a 5-1 victory.
The win lifts No. 4 Perry to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in RRC play while Ballard dropped to 1-8, 0-4.
Junior Wilbur Ramirez assisted on the first goal and senior Mario Cruz on the second, with Saldana beating the Bomber keeper to the corner with shots just inside the post. Saldana’s third goal was unassisted, the sophomore blasting a shot into the top portion of the goal.
Junior Ever Tobar scored six minutes later after taking a Rudy Sarceno pass and beating the goalie on a one-and-one move. The 4-0 lead remained unchanged for the rest of the first half.
Despite the quick start, Bluejay head coach Gary Overla felt his team had produced a sloppy effort.
“Honestly, as a coaching staff, we were a bit disappointed in our play,” Overla said. “We felt our touch on the ball was slow, that we held the ball too long with our dribble and that we played too much one-on-one, etc.”
“I think that shows how far our program has come, that we find fault with a 5-1 win,” he added. “There are probably a limited number of programs in the state that may be in that position.”
Saldana added a fourth goal — matching Tobar for the team lead with eight scores this season — by converting a Sarceno assist two minutes after the intermission.
Ballard refused to lay down, scoring off a free kick in the 56th minute when the ripped shot skipped hard off the surface and beat the Perry keeper.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the Ballard program and played us well and showed no quit, which was much to their credit after being down by a score of 5-0,” Overla said. “We will look at film and will analyze where we need to be and what we need to do to correct some of our errors. I have full faith the young men on our team will step up to our challenges.”
Perry will not have long to wait before encountering a stiff test, as 7-2 DC-G visits Dewey Field Thursday.
