The Mustangs began their season on a high note, thrashing La Joya 6-1 at home. Senior center forward Oscar Tuah was the man of the match as he scored a hat trick and provided an assist. Tuah expressed his happiness with the win and praised his teammates.

“It felt good knowing that I have players behind me that support me every step of the way,” Tuah said. “We came out here confident that we were going get that (many) goals and we’re happy that we came out with the 'dub',”.

It didn’t take long for North to get on the scoreboard. In fact, it only took five minutes. The opening goal of the night was scored by Tuah.

Tuah received a through ball as he entered the penalty area and calmly slotted it past the goalkeeper to give the Mustangs the lead. It was a lead that they would hold onto for the rest of the game.

The Mustangs took control of the game throughout the first half, possessing the ball for most of the time and creating multiple scoring opportunities.

It was great game for both of North’s center forwards. Freshman Alexis Avila, Tuah’s partner up front, scored two goals of his own and also provided an assist.

Avila made his presence known with two thunderous shots from outside the penalty area that made it to the back of the net. Having scored two goals in the first half, both Tuah and Avila were subbed off. After the game, head coach Carlos Zubiate explained his decision to sub them.

"We were winning 4-0 so we decided to give them some rest and get the other guys, especially the JV players to go in and check and see how they perform on varsity,” Zubiate said.

The Mustangs almost finished the first half with a clean sheet, but with under a minute remaining in the frame, La Joya got on the scoreboard.

The second half was a continuation of the first with North maintaining possession and creating multiple scoring opportunities. The team added two goals to the scoreboard in this period.

At the start of the second half, senior Daniel Balderas was involved in an unfortunate collision with a player from La Joya.

“I was trying to create a play and they hit me in my head and when I turned around falling, another person came and hit me on the head again,” said Balderas.

Balderas was taken out the game immediately. After receiving medical revision from the athletic trainer it was discovered that he didn’t suffer a concussion. Regardless of the diagnosis, Balderas didn’t go back into the game. It wouldn’t have been necessary as North had a comfortable lead and was in complete control.

With just under 10 minutes remaining in the second half, what appeared to be a sprinkle of rain became a burst of rainfall. With that, and the sound of thunder looming, the officials decided to end the match. It was a good call as the score was 6-1 and there was no need to keep on playing.

The Mustangs will travel to rival Camelback to play the Spartans on Dec. 12. They will be looking to continue on a victorious path.