Less than 24 hours after making his USL Championship debut as a substitute for the Oakland Roots, 16-year-old Javier Mariona scored the only goal for the Roots’ development club in its 1-1 draw with MCSC Jaguars in the first match of the UPSL Premier Division’s fall season.
The goal came just before halftime. Mariona made a 30-yard run along the left sideline, pursued by four defenders, and blasted a shot that sailed over goalkeeper Fabian Narez’s head into the roof of the net. It was set up by Daniel Turgeon, who deflected a pass from MCSC’s Carlos Pacheco to Josiah Romero, who flicked the ball to Mariona.
The Oakland Roots signed Mariona to a USL academy contract in July. He attends Los Altos High School and played youth soccer for Silicon Valley Soccer Academy and De Anza Force Academy.
Early in the match, Project 51O had most of the possession, but the Jaguars scored first in the 14th minute. Seven players touched the ball as they moved it methodically up the field. Albert Munante found Roberto Banegas open along the wing. Banegas’s cross from 25 yards out found Alberto Garcia alone at the far post for the easy tap-in.
MCSC had a chance to make it 2-0 in the 40th minute when Luis Andrade headed the ball to Alberto Garcia, streaking toward the goal, but 51O’s goalkeeper Marco Brougher came out and punched the ball away. Brougher is also on a USL academy contract and recently featured in the De Anza Force Academy for their U-17 side.
The second half was filled with end-to-end action, but neither club’s defense yielded very many chances. The Jaguars had the two best opportunities. In the 68th minute, Banegas’s shot beat Brougher but deflected off of the post. They also came close in the 77th minute, when Andres Jimenez’s shot from distance was on target, but Brougher was just able to tip it over the crossbar for a corner kick.
51O’s second-half chances included a free-kick sent into the box in the 57th minute, but Abdulahi Mohammed was unable to get much power on his header. In stoppage time, Brayam Lopez was in perfect position to tap in a cross from Juan Campos, but the ball took a difficult hop, and he was only able to tap the ball wide.
The Jaguars won the UPSL’s Wild West Division championship in the recently completed spring season. Project 51O was founded in late 2019, but the team was able to play only one competitive match over the course of the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to COVID restrictions.
