ORANGE LEAGUE SOCCER ROUNDUP : Brea’s Streak Continues With 3-0 Victory
The demise of the Brea-Olinda High School boys’ soccer team was apparently greatly exaggerated. After a disastrous nonleague season, the Wildcats have turned things around in Orange League play.
With a 3-0 victory over Western (0-11-1 overall, 0-6-2 in league play) Friday at Western, Brea remained in a first-place tie with Anaheim with only two regular-season matches left. It was the sixth consecutive match without a loss for Brea, five of which have been victories.
“I think some of the league’s coaches thought this was the season to pay us back,” said Brea Coach Manny Toledo, whose teams have won five of the last six league titles. “We played the toughest preseason schedule in Orange County.”
That schedule left its mark. After winning three matches and tying two to start the season, Brea lost six consecutive matches and had a 4-7-2 record heading into league play.
But the Wildcats (10-7-3, 6-1-1) have been a dominant team in the last three weeks. On Wednesday, they defeated Valencia, 6-2, to knock the Tigers out of first place.
Brea took a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the match when Jeff Ortiz scored on a breakaway. Marco Hernandez made it 2-0 with seven minutes left in the half when he lobbed a shot from 40 yards out that went just over the outstretched hands of Western goalie Darryl Serlin.
The two goals were more than enough. Brea’s defense, led by Greg Brunet and Matt Rutledge, disrupted the Western offense.
And what did get past the defense was handled by goalie Jeff Bettencourt. Twice in the first half, Western’s John Nowland had shots from inside 10 feet and both times Bettencourt made diving saves.
Bettencourt had 13 saves for his sixth shutout in league play. He has nine shutouts this season, one short of the school record set by Blake Wedemeyer in 1984.
“Our defense has been strong all season,” Toledo said. “We just had to find the right combination on offense. Now we’re starting to click.”
Brea’s offense dramatically improved when Jasyn Ochs got hot. Ochs, who led the team with 17 goals last season, has scored eight of his 12 goals in the last six matches.
Valencia 4, Magnolia 1--Greg Sanders, Steven Johnson, Danny Melia and Mario Torrez scored for host Valencia (6-2 in league play).
Anaheim 10, Savanna 1--With the victory, the visiting Colonists remained tied for first place with Brea.
