Late goal forces Crescenta Valley boys’ soccer to settle on tie
LA CRESCENTA — Though there was a tie in Friday afternoon’s Pacific League boys’ soccer showdown between host Crescenta Valley High and Pasadena, there was also a feeling that one team clearly won and another lost.
The Falcons surrendered a late goal, the lead and the opportunity for a giant win to finish with a 1-1 tie versus the two-time defending league champion Bulldogs.
The deadlock halted a seven-match winning streak for the Falcons (12-2-1, 3-0-1), who remained atop the league standings ahead of Burroughs (9-3-3, 3-1) and Pasadena (5-3-1, 2-1-1).
“To give up a goal late, that is frustrating,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Grant Clark, whose squad is 0-4-1 over its last five meetings versus the Bulldogs. “We kind of snuck one in at the end of the first half, so we know what that’s like.
“I think everyone has to realize that regardless of who we’re playing, if there’s time on the clock, there’s an opportunity to score. We didn’t do our part in the last 10 minutes and Pasadena earned that tie.”
Though the Falcons dominated second-half play, a contrast emerged between the teams.
Crescenta Valley didn’t cash in its many chances, while Pasadena took advantage of its few breaks.
No opportunity was bigger for the Bulldogs than what took place in the 71st and 72nd minutes.
Pasadena’s Erick Hernandez sent a through ball to senior Luca Veca inside the 18-yard line. Veca peppered a shot that just skipped off the right post and out of play right before the head referee awarded a penalty shot for a foul inside the box.
A minute later, Pasadena midfielder Jason Bautista buried a penalty kick into the left side of the goal to knot the contest at 1.
“I didn’t see what the foul was to be honest and I’ll have to take a look at the film,” Clark said.
Pasadena’s score came on one of its just four shots in the second half. Overall, Crescenta Valley won the shots battle, 13-8.
“I’m really happy with this because we’re missing a bunch of guys due to injuries and sicknesses and we’re coming off a heart-breaking loss to Burroughs because of a handball,” Pasadena Coach Cherif Zein said. “My main goal was to come up with a good result and we did that. I think we represented well.”
Perhaps no player stood taller than Bulldogs goalie Gilberto Yepez, who finished with four brilliant saves.
Yepez made one-handed stab saves on a shot by Henry Barkhordarian in the 69th minute and moments earlier on a shot from Zander Bakunowski.
Frustration may have run highest for the Falcons in the 74th minute when Barkhordarian beat Yepez, but shot just over the crossbar from six yards out.
For all of the solid attempts Crescenta Valley had, its one goal came via what appeared to be a pretty innocuous set piece.
Falcons junior striker Ryan Sanfilippo flipped in a throw-in near the end line to senior teammate Jonny Han.
The ball skipped past one Bulldog as Han took possession, spun around his defender and rocketed a 10-yard goal near post to give Crescenta Valley a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute.
“I knew when I was trekking to the ball I saw that there was only one guy behind me” Han said. “So, right when I beat him, I just thought, ‘Why not take a shot?’ They had a lot of guys in the middle covering, so I just took a shot.”
Outside of the two goals, the energy level at Friday’s affair lacked some of the intensity of previous contests. The only yellow card given out came during an argument between two Crescenta Valley players in the 32nd minute that led to pushing between the teammates.
“There were a few mental distractions early on in the first half where we’d lose our heads and we need to be better than that,” Han said. “We can’t win these games if we’re losing our heads.”
