WORTHINGTON — Worthington Community Football Club won its Wednesday evening scrimmage against the Worthington Area All-Stars 4-1.
The exhibition featured a strong pace of play, as the All-Stars played a heavy press which stalled the Toros for the first 25 minutes of the first half. WCFC kept strong on its defensive lines and were lined up in a 4-4-2 formation for the first half.
Center back Jose Morales played a strong first half with several clean challenges to slow down a surging All-Star attack and a clean header off a corner kick around the 30 minute mark. Morales was subbed off at the half, but returned to play the final 10 minutes and scored on a penalty kick.
The Toros scored two goals in the first half and looked much more comfortable with a sustained offensive attack after floating the first goal in on a beautiful through pass.
Given that that game was a friendly, there were unlimited substitutions. Each player on both benches was given an opportunity to play.
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The teams played each other hard but stayed in the fair rules of play. WCFC was effective in creating high-quality scoring chances from set pieces. The Toros put several heads on corner kicks, and designed several free kicks which produced shots on net.
One set piece ended with a Toros shot ringing the inner goal post. The Toros played unselfishly in the All-Stars’ penalty box with smooth passes and team-first mentality.
The All-Stars’ lone goal came early in the second half. Nelson Hildago rocketed his free kick from just outside the penalty box over the Toros’ wall and into the far upper corner of the net.
The Toros feature several area players, one of which is former Worthington Trojans standout Chris Cerda. Cerda started the game in the center of the Toros’ midfield. Cerda said that he is proud of the opportunity and views this WCFC as a starting point for something he hopes to become a staple of area athletics.
“It has always been said that there has been talent around Worthington and the area,” said Cerda. “This is a great project that (Patrick) Mahoney, Eswin (Hernandez) and Jason (Johnson) are doing. We are hoping to build from the youth up. That way in the next 5-10 years our semi-pro team is full of kids who were born and raised in Worthington.”
The United Premier Soccer League is where WCFC will play this spring and summer. The Toros are in the Premier Division and the Midwest-West Conference. Teams that WCFC will play are primarily centered in the Twin Cities metro, but it also features teams from Superior, Wisconsin, Rochester and St. Cloud.
“Growing up I always played with the YMCA and teams around the area. So when we got to high school and state, we would go up against the metro teams and they humbled us,” said Cerda. “I think it will be good for the youth teams to be playing against those top teams and when they do come to high school they are prepared to play those top teams.”
There is a lot of excitement brewing for the Toros upcoming season and the team that has been assembled played quite well against a tough group of local opponents.
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“We played against a good group of guys,” said Cerda. “Both teams know each other — we play with these guys and a lot of these guys have the quality to play with us. We believe that it was a good matchup with us being two weeks away from the regular season.”
One focus of the team is in the name — community.
"This is a project that we see being here for the next 10, 20, 30 years," said Cerda. "If we want to build it — it will be up to us to be a part of it (the community) — on the field and off the field."
WCFC has just over two weeks before the regular season is set to begin. There is interest in scheduling more friendly exhibitions before the team travels to Maple Grove on Saturday, April 29, to take on the Maplebrook 58ers. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Maple Grove High School Field.
Worthington All-Stars 0 1 – 1
WCFC Toros 2 2 – 4
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