Fountain Valley-Marina Boys’ Soccer Tournament : Defensive Lapse by Santa Ana Is Costly in Finals

A defensive mistake in the first half proved to be the difference as unranked Santa Ana High School fell to top-ranked and undefeated Palos Verdes, 1-0, Thursday in the finals of the 24-team Fountain Valley-Marina boys’ soccer tournament.

The loss was the first for Santa Ana, now 10-1-3.

The only score came with about 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Palos Verdes’ free kick from the right side of the field bounced off a couple of players in front of the Saints’ goal. Lance Hayworth emerged from the fray with the ball and only goalie Gus Plasencia between him and the goal. He slid the ball by Plasencia for the score.

“The goal they made was our mistake,” Santa Ana Coach Ernest Salgado said. One of the defenders erroneously called for his teammates to change formation at the wrong time, he said.

“We tried to play an off-side trap off their direct kick so the kids were moving up. Every body moved up and (Hayworth) just dribbled through that little hole,” Salgado said.

Palos Verdes (15-0), the No. 1 team in the Southern Section’s 4-A division, dominated the first half, getting numerous shots on goal and spending most of the half near the Saints’ goal. But Palos Verdes came away with only one goal because of the excellent play of Plasencia.

The momentum shifted in favor of Santa Ana midway through the second half when Salgado removed Plasencia from the goal and put him on attack.

The Saints, who have defeated two ranked 4-A teams (No. 4 Mater Dei and No. 5 Fountain Valley), spent much of the rest of the game threatening to score.

But Palos Verdes goalie Mark Antrobius, who has 11 shutouts, continually thwarted the Saints.

His most brilliant save came on Santa Ana’s best scoring attempt of the second half. With about 2 minutes to play, Mario Silva took a free kick for Santa Ana from the right side of the penalty box. The hard-driven kick curved around to the lower left corner of the goal, but Antrobius dived and tipped the ball away off his fingertips.

Palos Verdes Coach Alan King, whose squad played 6 games in 3 days in this tournament after winning another tournament on Monday, was happy to escape with the victory.

“This team has so much heart,” he said. “We were dead. We had no bodies. My subs played the whole second half up front.”

“That works both ways,” said Salgado, whose team was missing 4 starters because of injuries and vacations.

“You play with what you have. We played right along with them and I’m happy. It really proves that we’re up there, and we are not even ranked in the Southern Section 3-A division.”

The Saints advanced to the finals with a 2-0 victory over Fountain Valley Thursday morning. Eddie Buenrostro and Gustavo Santoyo scored first-half goals.

Palos Verdes advanced by handing Mission Viejo, the No. 1 county school in Division 4-A, its first loss, 1-0. Al Lindsay had the only goal.

In the third-place match:

Mission Viejo 3, Fountain Valley 1--Fountain Valley (12-4-1) led, 1-0, at the half on a goal by Derek Mahoney, but Mission Viejo stormed back in the second half. Carl Stoher scored first and teammate Joe Max Moore added 2 goals. Mission Viejo is 12-1.