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Pumas win Winter debut
Saturday Dec 08, 2007
Alameda County - December 8, 2007 - California Cougars and Stockton Pumas head coach Bernie Lilavois leads his Premiere Arena Soccer League team over Bladium with a 17-15 win.
Stockton led 6-4 after the first and 8-7 heading to the halftime. In the third they narrowly held on with a 14-13 lead. In the end the Pumas (1-0) finished with a 17-15 win over Bladium (1-1).
It was a back and forth game, but the Pumas never trailed after scoring first in the game. Coach Lilavois assisted six Pumas, and current Cougar Luis Pinto had three goals in the game.
"This was the first time the we have gotten back together since we won the Summer National Championship," said Lilavois. "It showed throughout the game as we were a little out of sink." "There were some good individual efforts which I’m very happy with and our team concept can only get better from now on."
Two such performances came from goalkeepers and position players Nick Clark and Jesus Molina. Clark started in goal and made 11 saves, Molina played in goal for hte second half and saved eight shots to earn the win. Both Clark and Molina played in the field when they weren't stopping shots by Bladium. Molina scored once in the first half.
The strong team play was shown with the conversion of two power play goals. The Pumas killed two of five power plays in the win.
"We have some work to do but I was impressed with the talent on this team," said coach Chris Handsor. "Bernie has done a tremendous job building this team from scratch and I look forward to helping teach the game and continue the high standard of play that he has set for our organization."
"The Pumas is a great tool for us as we can use players who are returning from injuries or give some extra minutes to players not seeing many shifts with the Cougars," said Lilavois.
Cougar reserve, and former Chico Bigfoot, Josh Copeland blocked five shots in the win. Five Pumas scored at least one goal for a balanced team attack.
The Pumas play Turlock Express in their home debut in Stockton Arena December 9 at 4:15.
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