THE PREPS : DIVISION 1-A BOYS’ SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP : Corona Centennial Shares Title With Newport Harbor

Considering how far both teams have come in such a short time, it was fitting that both were winners Saturday night.

After 100 minutes of soccer--including two overtime periods--Newport Harbor and Corona Centennial had played to a scoreless tie in the Southern Section Division 1-A championship game at Gahr High School.

The section declared the teams co-champions. Neither school had reached the soccer final before.

Both teams left the field with handshakes and smiles.

“This is OK with me,” Newport Harbor Coach Alan Layne said. “It’s much better to be a co-champion than to have either side win on stupid penalty kicks. Penalty kicks don’t give the correct result of a game.”

It was the first time a Southern Section final had ended in a tie since the 4-A match in 1987, and the first scoreless tie since 1984.

Centennial (19-4-4 in only its second year of existence) scored 70 goals in 27 games, but came up empty in 14 cracks at the Newport Harbor net, which was defended by goalkeepers Mike Hancock (8 saves) and Josh Klein (4 saves).

Newport Harbor (16-4-8) kept smaller, quicker Centennial at bay with a rugged, tight-marking defense--a bruising style taught by the London-born Layne, who is in his first year at Newport.

Centennial made several rushes after the second half, but the Sailor defenders, led by sweeper Todd Tift--a senior captain--turned them back with crushing slide tackles.

“People tend to attribute physical defense to dirty defense,” Layne said. “We’re not dirty, just tough. It’s an English style, just put it like that.”

Newport Harbor gambled in the second overtime, rushing headlong downfield to take five shots. Joey Perez came close three times, but Centennial goalkeeper Rusty Haller recorded 15 saves for his 14th shutout.

Centennial Coach John Stilwell tried to rally his players after regulation by likening Centennial to David against Goliath.

“I told them to go out and put a rock between Goliath’s eyes,” Stilwell said afterward. “I guess we wounded him, but we couldn’t get him down.

“Hey, we were playing with the big boys,” he said. “The semifinals would have been fine, but we got here instead. This is great.”