Well, at least they tied

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As far as West Torrance is concerned, the best thing that could be said about a 21-21 tie with Mira Costa on Friday has already been said.

‘At least we didn’t lose,’ senior running back Brian Baucham noted. ‘It was a good awakening for us. I think we’ll be better from here on, because now we know we’re not invincible.’

The Warriors (5-0-1, 0-0-1) found out the hard way when Mira Costa (2-3-1, 0-0-1) rallied from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit to tie the game on a short scoring run by Adrien Dotson in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and then West Torrance kicker Tyler Krumpe missed slightly left on a potential game-winning 43-yard field goal in the final seconds. Replay the game via this Daily Breeze account.

‘He was a little depressed about it, but he’s OK,’ Baucham said of Krumpe, the son of Loyola Marymount men’s soccer Coach Paul Krumpe, who played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic soccer team. ‘It was a good kick. One of our coaches said it was good, but it was right over the top -- just a real tough call.’

Baucham, who suffered an right-shin injury in the second quarter, spent Friday night and Saturday morning icing the leg but said he expects to play in next week’s game against visiting Redondo. Certainly, he wants to play.

‘We have to move on,’ he said.

If the Warriors need consolation concerning the tie, they don’t have to look far -- only to last year, when they tied South Torrance, 14-14 -- albeit in a nonleague game -- and then went on to win nine in a row before finally being stopped by Dominguez, 28-21, in the Southern Section Western Division championship game.

- Lauren Peterson