Rough game decided by beautiful goal
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The Mission League contest between St. Francis and Crespi on Wednesday looked more like a title bout than a soccer match. OK, so no punches were thrown (well, at least the referee didn’t see them), but it was definitely one of the more physical soccer games I’ve been to in a while.
That’s why it’s weird the only goal scored in the game didn’t come on a rough-and-tumble play in front of the net, but on a beautifully-crafted, end-to-end drive by the Crespi offense. Junior Ryan Lannutti scored in the 74th minute off a perfectly-placed feed from freshman leading scorer Juan Mendoza to carry Crespi to a 1-0 road victory over first-place St. Francis.
The Celts are still underdogs to beat the Golden Knights for the title, but at least they can go home tonight knowing they’ve beaten one of the best teams in Southern California.
‘It was an extremely physical contest and that’s how every Mission League game is,’ Crespi coach Rob Kodama said. ‘It’s a big win...the boys finally showed everybody they can beat a team as talented as St. Francis.’
And here’s a quick interview with Lannutti, Crespi’s hero of the moment:
-- Austin Knoblauch
