Lane United FC played its second friendly match of the summer Friday night, and it went much better than the opener — a 3-0 loss to the Portland Timbers U-23 squad. The Reds defeated the visiting Southern Oregon Fuego 4-0 at Sheldon High School in front of a sizable group of supporters.
Miguel Murillo nearly put home the first goal in club history in the third minute. His header hit the post, then the turf, then was clutched by the Fuego keeper off the bounce. The Reds had other near goals early in the first half as they controlled possession and kept the Fuego defense busy.
As the first half wore down, midfielder Loren Hill entered the history books as he scored Lane United’s first ever goal — a ground shot to the left of the keeper.
“We could all take a big deep breath of air and kind of relax,” said head coach Gabriel Hernandez on Lane’s first goal. “It definitely was nice to reward the crowd and the supporters that came out. It was a nice goal. Plus from a guy that went to high school here, so it makes sense that he was the one.” The crowd seemed more than satisfied, roaring with approval and praise at the goal.
With the outcome still very much in doubt, LUFC came out with aggression in the second half and had many shots on goal, breaking through again in the 54th minute, this time courtesy of Gus Bermudez. Bermudez received a pass on the left wing and dribbled around a defender before striking a line drive past the keeper, putting the Reds up 2-0.
Six minutes later, forward Paul Beach added his name to the list of goal scorers, redeeming himself for a 37th minute yellow card. Defenseman Ryan Trutner narrowly missed in the 66th minute, banging the ball off the post.
The Reds controlled much of the game with its fast-paced, possession centered game strategy, which proved succesful a third time in the 69th minute Bermudez came through again, perfectly lobbing a shot over the head of the Fuego keeper for his second goal of the match, increasing the lead to 4-0.
The score would remain that way until the final whistle blew, giving Lane United its first win in franchise history.
“I think we were a lot more composed on the ball, a lot more confident on the ball and we’ve had more training sessions together, so we were able to kind of put our style on display for everyone,” Hernandez said on the victory. “It was a lot of short combinations and unlocking it long, and I thought they did that really well. That’s what the adjustment was at halftime and that changed the game.”
Lane United will begin playing in the Premier Development League next spring.