Granada Hills Blows By Westchester, 2-1

The Granada Hills soccer team paraphrased a line from the Los Angeles Raiders’ Al Davis Thursday afternoon: Just wind, baby.

Scoring one goal aided by a stiff breeze and another despite having to face the gusts, the Highlanders fought off a tough Westchester squad for a 2-1 victory in the first round of the City boys soccer playoffs.

The Highlanders had the breeze at their back in the first half and took advantage of it, easily keeping the ball in Westchester’s half of the field.

Near the end of the half, halfback William Urquilla passed to Brent Small, took a return pass from Small and fired a 35-yard shot past Westchester goalkeeper Gustavo Sanchez for a 1-0 Granada Hills lead.

But even with the wind in their faces in the second half, the Highlanders managed to keep the pressure on the Westchester defense.

Midway through the half, John Markoe centered the ball to Derryl Halpern who was all alone in front of Westchester’s net. His goal made it 2-0.

Westchester had several opportunities to score in the second half, but strong defensive play by fullbacks Ken Blakeman, Ean Kleiger, Ben Beauvais, Ray Hodge and Fabio Fortunato kept the pressure off goalkeeper Douglas Urquilla.

Westchester’s lone goal came with 12 minutes left in the second half when Issa Gharibeh drilled a shot through a crowd and past Urquilla.

The loss was a disappointment to Westchester, which finished second in the Western League behind Hollywood with a 10-4 record. But it’s only the second year of the program at the school and Coach Howard Smith was pleased with his team’s performance.

“The kids played well,” Smith said. “The wind was a factor for both teams, so it really didn’t make that much difference. But I was glad we had the wind at our backs for the second half.”

It was a big win for Granada Hills (11-2), which tied for the West Valley League championship with Chatsworth.

The Highlanders ended the game with 22 shots, most coming in the first half. Ten saves were made by Sanchez.

“They did well,” said second-year coach Midge Miller. “We’ve been working on pressure passing and their accuracy has picked up.

“The wind’s always a factor, but we play well in the wind. It’s always blowing in Granada Hills.”

The Highlanders will play San Pedro, a 3-2 winner over El Camino Real, in the second round on Tuesday.