Sporting two new additions -- central midfielder Esteban Zelaya and striker Richard "Trix" Taylor -- who were signed right on the May 19 LA Municipal League deadline, the Warriors dominated the first half with smart passing and strong offensive runs, but again had some finishing issues.
It wasn't until more than 40 minutes in when Taylor stepped onto the field for the first time in an Apache FC uniform, that the squad finally put one away, ironically on Taylor's first touch of the ball. Taylor took a through pass from Nick Midulla and slotted it past the United keeper.
The second half saw the arrival of coach Billy Alarcon, whose brother David "Puma" Alarcon filled in for during the first half. Play was again dominated by the Warriors, who finally saw more scoring success --- in droves -- at the 70-minute mark, when Midulla spun through several defenders before striking the ball home.
That seemed to tear the bandage off as the Warriors then scored six unanswered goals in just over six minutes ... Mike Barthel's two bullet shots outside the box netted him a brace, Taylor added another two goals for a hat trick, and Zelaya and Desmond Gallagher added singles ... their first goals of the season. Midulla leads the team in scoring now with five goals, followed closely by Barthel and Taylor with three.
The win also saw the Warriors playing without several key starters ... Alex Martinez, Jimmy Lin and Guillermo Herrera are all on the injury list while Custis Smith, Richie Million, Gerard McManus and Matthew McCallum were away for the match.
"Our two new signings definitely stepped up to the bat," Coach Billy Alarcon said. "Zelaya was a strong and calming influence on play in central midfield throughout the match and Taylor scoring a hat trick in his first appearance ... that definitely seemed to spark the goal scorers on the team."
The Warriors defense also had some stats to be proud of, with keeper Carlos Guerrero recording his fourth shutout over eight games, and the back four -- Bryan Moore, Desmond Gallagher, Sammy Xaylitdet and Rahoul Ghose -- reducing their goals against average to .625 ... or only five goals over eight matches.
Apache FC, who remain in a strong second-place position behind Hollywood United, are back at John Ferraro 7 next week for a return match against Santiagueño with a later 8:50 PM start. The team won their first encounter 3-1. Then the Warriors will play a pair at Griffith Park -- against Los Andes and United FA -- before finishing the season off at JF6 with a third meeting against Hollywood United.
The top four teams in the blue division advance to the Cup round with first playing fourth, and second playing third, in the first round. Winners will then advance to the semis facing teams from the Tuesday night Red division.
OTHER RESULTS:
Dinamo Lokomotiv (0) vs Los Andes (1)
Hollywood United (6) vs Santiagueño (2)
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