Fortune favors hard-working Estancia in win over Dana Hills

The events of Friday night’s game had Estancia High boys’ soccer coach Robert Castellano reminiscing about the words of his mentors.

Castellano was an assistant to former Eagles coach Gannon Burks before taking over the program in the 2009-10 season.

Burks used to tell his players, “Luck is when hard work meets opportunity.”

Estancia made its own luck in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs, and the No. 3-seeded Eagles came away with a 4-1 victory at home over Dana Hills.

The Eagles (14-3-6) will play in the second round at La Quinta (16-5-3) on Wednesday.

“We were telling the kids, ‘Luck comes to those who work hard,’” Castellano said. “I think we were doing things well. We were doing them the right way, and luck rolled our way.”

Nico Ramirez scored the go-ahead goal in the 47^th minute, crashing the net to get a foot on the grounded cross from Brian Alvarez.

When the ball arrived, Ramirez made a sliding touch. He was challenged by Colton Fox. The shot popped into the air, grazing the crossbar and landing across the goal line to give Estancia its first lead at 2-1.

In the 64^th minute, Luis Millan sprinted with the ball at his feet for 50 yards. He fed a cross in from the left side, and the Eagles caught a break when the ball ricocheted off Dolphins defender Michael Bogdonovich and into the net for an own goal.

“I think those two goals kind of tipped the scales in their favor, and they got the momentum,” Dolphins coach Mark Torrianni said. “Not going to take anything away from Estancia, though.

“They’re a quality side. They know how to play. They’re well disciplined. They move the ball very, very well.”

Aaron Neri put the game on ice in the 68^th minute. Andy Martinez sent the sophomore forward in on a breakaway from midfield, and Neri was able to cash in to extend the Estancia lead to 4-1.

“We started working harder than we did in the beginning because we came out asleep,” Neri said. “Then we started getting more hungry for goals, and I think that is what helped us out a lot.

“We still kept working hard. Our seniors want to go far in CIF. We want rings.”

The Orange Coast League champion Eagles experienced an ominous start against Dana Hills (10-9-3), which shared second place in the Sea View League.

Senior midfielder Bobby Reynolds opened the scoring for the Dolphins just three minutes into the game. His left-footed strike, assisted by Kasra Diba, beat Yonathan Lopez, who had five saves for the game.

The goal was followed by senior captain Sergio Gutierrez picking up a yellow card for a late challenge in the 13^th minute.

After returning to the game, Gutierrez was the facilitator of several scoring chances for Estancia. The Eagles finally converted on one when Gutierrez pushed a through ball between two defenders for Neri.

Neri got behind the defense, and he beat Hayden Fisher (four saves) for the tying goal in the 31^st minute.

Gutierrez said it was not the first time he received a yellow card, so he was not worried about being able to impact the game while avoiding a second booking.

“I know that I’m not a dirty player, and I’m smart in what I do,” Gutierrez said. “I have confidence in myself that I’m not going to hit anybody else.

“I think the foul, it was hard, but it was my first foul, so it was kind of debatable. I tried to keep my composure, trust my teammates, and trust myself and my abilities.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner