Crescenta Valley boys’ soccer gets best of La Cañada again
Through the first two matches of its tournament, the Crescenta Valley High boys’ soccer team has instantly jelled on offense.
In each contest, the Falcons have scored four goals in a half. That’s been bad news for their opponents, including La Cañada, which met Crescenta Valley for the second time in less than a month.
Crescenta Valley tallied four first-half goals, including one just 56 seconds in and two from Jonathan Han, to pick up a 5-1 win against rival La Cañada on Wednesday in a tournament pool-play match.
“We know about the rivalry we have with La Cañada, so you want to be able to play with a lot of high pressure and energy,” Han said. “We’ve had a lot of good things happen these first two games.
“We need to fix a few minor things, but we really want to try and win the tournament.”
Crescenta Valley (9-2) clinched a spot in the championship match, which will be held at 3 p.m. Friday. Crescenta Valley, which began the tournament Tuesday with a 4-0 win against Royal, will meet La Salle in a pool-play match at 3 p.m. Thursday.
La Cañada (3-3-1), which opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory against La Salle on Tuesday, will wrap up pool-play at 9 a.m. Thursday against Royal.
Crescenta Valley, which earned a 3-0 nonleague win at La Cañada on Nov. 30, jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the opening minute. Standing near the left post, Crescenta Valley’s Dallas Kaauwai headed in a throw-in from Zander Bakunowski.
“It makes it easier to coach when you can score nine goals in two games,” Crescenta Valley Coach Grant Clark said. “You get a goal in the first minute and it eases the tension you feel earlier.”
Then Han got involved in Crescenta Valley’s attack.
Han made it 2-0 when he directed Henry Barkhordarian’s pass past goalkeeper Ryan Crispi in the 25th minute.
Han extended the lead to 3-0 about seven minutes later when he scored off a nice pass from Sebouh Oshagan.
Oshagan finished the first-half scoring in the 36th minute off an assist from Ryan Sanfilippo.
“Our guys never stopped moving and I think they are comfortable with our formation,” Clark said. “The ones at the back line are also doing the job. That gives us a lot of opportunities to be successful.”
Sanfilippo gave the Falcons a 5-0 lead on a shot inside the far post in the 52nd minute.
The Spartans, who saw their winning streak end at three, got on the board when Sam Adida headed in a throw-in from Jack Meeker in the 55th minute.
“I’m developing a new style of play and that’s to pressure the ball so we don’t have to cover a lot of ground,” La Cañada first-year Coach Bruno Costa said. “Also, it’s a rivalry game and our players were very emotional.
“We gave up that first goal in the first minute and then we weren’t really able to play together. A lot of the areas we didn’t do well in here can be fixed.”
