Prep Soccer Roundup : Santa Ana Boys Win in the Final Minute to Clinch League Title

Freshman Gabriel Ballesteros scored with less than a minute to play, giving Santa Ana High School a 2-1 victory over Canyon and the Century League boys’ soccer championship Friday at Santa Ana.

Carlos Rangel set up the shot with a soft pass that got through a maze of players in the penalty area, and Ballesteros grounded the ball past goalie Chris Snitko.

Canyon (15-3-5 overall, 5-1-4 in league play) was the defending league champion and had not lost in its 19 previous league games. The Comanches last lost a league contest on Feb. 7, 1987, when they were defeated by Santa Ana, 1-0.

“It’s always tough when you lose in the final minute, but I must say that Santa Ana is the better team this season,” said Walt Bowman, Canyon’s coach. “We were lucky to be tied 1-1 late in the game because they had three shots that went off the goal post, including one penalty shot. But still, they had the better team and they deserved to win the game.”

Santa Ana (17-1-6, 6-0-3), which was ranked second to Mission Viejo among Southern Section 3-A schools, took a 1-0 lead with 14 minutes left in the first half when Eddie Buenrostro took a pass from Marco Silva and lined a shot past Snitko for his eighth goal of the season.

Canyon, which didn’t have a shot on goal in the first half, tied the score early in the second half when Greg Lawrence won a scramble in front of the Saint net and kicked a grounder past Santa Ana goalie Hector Ramos.