Boys’ soccer: Santa Margarita wins Cal Cup

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Damien started the game in a defensive formation. They, essentially, had 10 defenders and one forward -- in soccer, it can’t get more defensive than that. It was a good idea, given the amount of scoring potential Santa Margarita possesses, but the Spartans’ strategy backfired.

The Eagles (9-1-3) went up 1-0 with a goal from Casey Wootan in the 17th minute on a corner-kick play. Santa Margarita got another goal in the second half from Mike Munoz and went on to beat Damien, 2-0, in the championship game of the California Cup at Irvine Valley College. Amazingly, Santa Margarita becomes the first Orange County team to win the tournament, which is annually hosted in Orange County. Munoz’s goal was his 10th of the season; the Cal-bound senior scored 20 last year.

The game got a little ugly at the end as the pushing and shoving became more intense. On one play, a Damien parent went onto the field and had to be held back from getting closer to the action. On another, Santa Margarita parents accused a Damien player of spitting.

I didn’t see any saliva and neither did the referee. The player in question said that he didn’t spit as well, but it goes to show that things got so heated that parents thought it had escalated to that level.

Both teams begin league play on Wednesday. The Eagles will host Trinity League rival Servite at 3:15 p.m. Damien (7-7-2) is on the road at Glendora for its Sierra League opener, also at 3:15 p.m.

-- Jaime Cardenas