SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS’ SOCCER PLAYOFFS : 4-A : Edison Eliminated by Palos Verdes

After Edison High School’s 4-A boys’ semifinal soccer match Tuesday, the team’s biggest booster was the opposing coach.

“You guys are one hell of a team,” said Coach Alan King after Palos Verdes defeated Edison, 1-0, in sudden-death overtime at Edison.

King shook hands with the dejected Edison players, and embraced Charger Coach Mike DiGiovanni after the victory.

“They’re a great team,” King said. “They play great defense.”

King was just as complimentary about his own team, especially when talking about Doug Kay, who scored three minutes into sudden-death overtime.

“He’s just a dynamic player,” said King.

But Edison (16-6-5) shut out Kay, whose winner was his 28th goal of the season, and Palos Verdes (28-2-1), the defending 4-A champions, for more than 100 minutes of soccer. Although Palos Verdes outshot Edison 26-13, the teams were fairly even in near-misses.

Palos Verdes finally broke through after Edison goalkeeper Taylor Marcus and a host Edison defenders converged on Kay, who was taking a pass inside the penalty box. Marcus, who had many acrobatic saves among his game-high 13, tried to cut off the pass to Kay, but Kay beat him to the ball, dribbled to the side and kicked it into the open net.

“I was just hoping maybe he would kick it over, but he didn’t,” Marcus said.

Palos Verdes goalkeeper Mark Antrobius, who was an all-Southern Section selection last year when his school finished 33-0, made some good saves, too.

Early in the second half, he stopped a shot by Brian Higgins that appeared to be heading into the upper right corner of the net. Later, the Chargers came close again when Higgins’ out-of-bounds pass was headed past Antrobius but a defender behind the goalie kicked it away.

Edison’s best chance to score came when a Palos Verdes player headed the ball toward his own goal on an Edison corner kick. But Antrobius dived and made the save.