Demons Stay Perfect, Shutout Hays 6-0
DODGE CITY, Kan. – Demons head coach Saul Hernandez has relied on his team’s depth many times this season. That trust paid off in a big way as the substitutes tallied four goals in Dodge City’s 6-0 victory over Hays at Memorial Stadium.
The Demons came into the day with more momentum than they needed. They have allowed no more than one goal in a game to any team this season and had outscored their opponents 61-5 prior to kickoff. Aron Martinez had been unstoppable as of late as well, with 12 goals in his last 3 games.
They also had confidence about their opponents. They had no issues dispatching of Hays on the road back on September 14 when they won 10-0.
It wouldn’t be that lopsided today but Dodge City did get on the board early with a perfect pass from Aron Martinez setting up a Mario Olivares goal in the 3′ to put the Demons ahead.
Hays played well after that point though, with their defense clamping down on Dodge’s talented wings as they forced most of the play up the middle. The Demons generated a few more chances in the first 20 minutes of the contest but the majority of their shots missed the target while the few that didn’t were handled by Indians senior keeper Canon Meder.
The Indians nearly equalized when Edwin Muller found his way into some space in the box and rattled a shot off that was stopped by Demons goalkeeper Francisco Solis. That ended up being all that Hays generated in the opening half offensively while things turned around for Dodge City’s offense shortly after they allowed that chance.
The Demons got their second in the 27′ when Jakub Prousek fired a pinpoint cross to Rodrigo De La Cruz who found the back of the net to double Dodge City’s advantage. That is when things really broke in favor of the hosts who opened the floodgates, scoring three more times in the final ten minutes of the first half. Zahit Garibay (33′), Ahmed Baraki (35′) and Alejandro Marquez (37′) all tallied goals before the break to give Dodge City a commanding 5-0 lead at halftime.
There was little Hays could do in the second half as the Demons defense and second half goalkeeper Geovanni De Luna kept the fifth clean sheet of the season for Dodge City while Angel Lopez added a 47′ goal to build the lead to 6-0 which held the rest of the way.
The victory extends Dodge City’s unbeaten run to ten games to start the season. Their depth was the story of the day as six goals were scored by six different players. The Demons will go for 11 on Friday when they head to Wichita to take on Wichita-West at 3:30.
