Boys’ Soccer: Chargers move past first round
For almost a week and a half, Zac Ingalls got a ribbing from Edison High boys’ soccer coach Charlie Breneman. The reason why was because Ingalls missed an easy shot on the doorstep the last time the Chargers played on Feb. 8.
It took a while — 10 days — for Ingalls to get his next opportunity to score. He did not disappoint his coach in his first two chances on Saturday.
Ingalls finished both, scoring two goals to lead the host Chargers to a 3-1 win against Downey Warren in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
A year after Edison went one-and-done in the postseason, it moved on to the second round. Ingalls scored in the 16th and 44th minute, and Dominic Bair added a goal in the 71st, helping the No. 7-ranked Chargers (19-4-1) advance to play at Mission Viejo (8-7-5) on Wednesday.
Mission Viejo made it to the second round with a 2-1 upset at No. 8 Santa Margarita on Thursday. The Diablos played a day early to avoid Friday’s downpour, while Edison opened the postseason a day later because of the rain.
It drizzled for the first few minutes on Saturday afternoon, and then as soon as the sun came out, the Chargers struck.
With a wet turf, the Edison coaching staff ordered Brian Piscopo to skip his direct free kick into the box. He took it from about five yards away from the right touchline and 30 yards away from goal.
Piscopo delivered what Breneman wanted, as the ball quickly made its way on the ground toward the far post, where Ingalls tapped in the ball to give Edison the lead. The two same players were also involved in the scoring opportunity that Ingalls was unable to put it away the previous time Edison stepped on the field, coming in the regular-season finale at Los Alamitos.
The missed chance back then also could have sealed Edison’s Sunset League title. Instead, it had to score in the 78th minute to avoid overtime and pull out a 2-1 victory.
“I was kind of giving him crap versus Los Al, where he missed a really, really good chance [with a wide-open net] to make it 2-0,” Breneman said. “I’m like, ‘I know you’re saving it for the playoffs.’ He came up with two big goals today.”
Ingalls made sure to make it 2-0 Edison early in the second half against Warren (9-10-5), the third-place team from the San Gabriel Valley League.
Piscopo assisted on Ingalls’ second goal, which Ingalls hit far post, away from goalkeeper Erik Rodriguez. The Chargers, who dominated play in the first half, not giving up a shot on goal, started the second half strong.
But having three key players (midfielder Sam Kemper, defender Collier Maruska, midfielder Kobe Wood) get yellow cards and midfielder Chase Bullock go down with what looked like a hip injury changed things for Edison during a 20-minute stretch in the second half. Warren began to attack and challenge keeper Mitchell Wilson.
The Bears made it a one-goal contest in the 58th minute. Angel Jimenez found a wide-open Giovani Passarelli on the left wing, and Passarelli was able to find the upper-right corner of the net.
Thirteen minutes later, Edison responded. Kemper hit Bair with a nice pass, and the striker ran past the last defender. In a one-on-one situation with backup keeper Ulises Guzman, Bair dribbled to his right and into the box, before unleashing his 16th goal on the season.
The Chargers eliminated Warren, a semifinalist last season, from the playoffs for the second time in three years. They almost met last season in the second round, but Edison lost at home to La Cañada St. Francis, 2-1, in the first round.
Edison got past its opener this time around. The Chargers get to face Mission Viejo, a program they beat, 2-0, in a nonleague match at home on Dec. 9.
“They’re a really good team,” Ingalls said of the Diablos, who finished second in the South Coast League. “We’re going to have to go out there even harder than we came out today.”
Twitter: @ByDCP
