Southern Section Soccer : Lakewood Is a 2-1 Winner in 3-A Final

Lakewood High School, appearing in its first Southern Section soccer final, defeated San Gabriel, 2-1, Friday at Gahr High to win the boys’ 3-A championship.

The tone for the game was set on Lakewood’s first goal, which came on a set play from out of bounds. San Gabriel was fooled when Lakewood’s Ben Assefa passed the ball inbounds to Pat Chavarrie, who then hit it off his head to Gerardo Rodriguez.

Rodriguez kicked the ball into the net in heavy traffic, and Lakewood led, 1-0.

Later in the first half, San Gabriel had a goal by Paul Savare disallowed because the referees said Savare pushed off to get position for the shot.

The play seemed to deflate San Gabriel, which then gave up another goal to trail at halftime, 2-0. San Gabriel’s Denny Kreiner scored at the 64:39 mark, but the Matadors couldn’t get the tying goal.

Lakewood, the runner-up in the Moore League, finished the season with a 19-3-5 record, while San Gabriel, the runner-up in the Foothill League, dropped to 19-5-1.

In the girls’ 4-A final, Claremont beat El Toro, 3-2, for the school’s first soccer title ever.

Claremont’s boys teams had made the final three times in the last 11 years but never won. On Friday, the girls team won on a goal by Marla Law at the 73:14 mark.

Claremont took a 2-0 lead by halftime only to see El Toro tie it up with two quick goals late in the second half.

Claremont finished the season 27-1 while El Toro’s record fell to 17-6-2.