Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1997 | 10:28 a.m.
Vince Hart considers himself a soccer purist but admits he's going against the grain a bit.
You see, his Green Valley Gators don't play the game in an artistic fashion these days. It's strictly a blue-collar effort when they take the field, with end-to-end pressure and plenty of pounding in the hopes of finding an opportunity to score.
While Green Valley's game plan may not be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, it sure has been successful. The Gators continued their winning ways Monday, knocking off Sunrise Division foe Valley, 1-0, to move to 7-0 in the Southern 4A Conference and 9-0-1 overall.
So how is Green Valley really looking?
"This was a real important win for us," Hart said. "I'm always surprised to be undefeated. Every one of our games we could have lost by a goal. The kids keep plugging and good things are happening."
Hart reluctantly implemented the helter-skelter style because the Gators lack offensive punch. There is no big-time goal scorer so Green Valley has to make things happen.
Monday's match was a perfect example. Mike Swain scored 10 minutes into the contest and from there, the Gators created enough mayhem to hold the lead. Hart says with the exception of Bishop Gorman -- which tied Green Valley -- most foes are drawn away from their strategic plans by the Gators' play.
"I think they get a little frustrated," he said. "We pressure from the first minute until the last minute. It's totally different from any other tactical plan I've ever had. It's kind of ugly soccer ... we chase it and cause other teams to make mistakes."
Swain is the leading scorer for Green Valley and is joined by five other mainstays in the lineup. Seniors Chris Frey, Adam Canfield and David Bindrup and sophomores Ben Schiess and Chris Kircher start every match. Hart rotates goalkeepers Ben Crawford and Evan Dodd in net.
While the Gators have excelled in close matches this fall, Hart knows it can be a double-edged sword. A close contest can turn into a loss very quickly.
"That's our biggest focus," he said. "Everybody has to push and do his job or we might not be successful."
The loss was huge for Valley because the Vikings dropped out of second place with the loss. Silverado took over sole possession of second with its 4-2 victory over Las Vegas. Mike Eshrah scored twice for the Skyhawks and Oliver Nowak and Jason Thomas added goals. Las Vegas got its scores from Manuel Moldovado and Jose Leyva.
Chaparral tied Valley for third by virtue of its 1-1 tie with Basic. Salvador Ortiz scored the Cowboys' lone goal. Chaparral coach Dan Schell credited Wolves' goalkeeper Revel Erickson for helping his team gain the tie thanks to three big saves.
Eldorado blanked Vo-Tech 3-0 on goals by Edgar Tavaras, Robi Grimshaw and Jarrod Hamilton.
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