La Jolla Scores Upset Over St. Augustine, 2-1

Cem Tont said that when he took over as the La Jolla boys’ soccer coach this year, he had hoped just to finish the season.

Wednesday, La Jolla defeated top-seeded St. Augustine, 2-1, to win the San Diego Section Division III title at Southwestern College.

After a turbulent last year, with three coaching changes, Tont wanted to bring stability back to the team.

“I wanted to re-emphasis enjoying the game,” Tont said. “Wins start coming after that and the most fun is winning. Winning is a habit.”

So, with a new philosophy, La Jolla surprised a lot of teams after finishing third in the Western League, was the only unseeded boys team in any division to advance to the the finals.

The game progressed much like La Jolla’s season. In both, the Vikings (12-5-2) started slow and poured it on at the end.

The Vikings had lost to Mission Bay twice during the season, then defeated Mission Bay to advance to the finals.

“Once we faced Mission Bay in the (semifinals) and we outplayed them, that was what turned it around,” Tont said.

Micheal Kelly, a sophomore, scored with 12 minutes remaining in the game to break a 1-1 tie and clinch the victory for La Jolla.

It was Kelly’s sixth goal this season, but first game-winner.

Kelly passed the ball to Alex Brown, who took a shot but it bounced off one of the St. Augustine defenders and within reach of Kelly.

Midway through the first half it looked as though St. Augustine (16-6-2) would dominate the game. The Saints had outshot the Vikings 8-2 at one point and led 1-0.

Sophomore Jonathan Santos scored for the Saints at the 28-minute mark off a Craig DaLuz’s missed shot, which bounced off the crossbar.

Eleven minutes later Eric Zadeyan scored off an assist by Craig Pettigrew to tie the score 1-1.

St. Augustine outshot La Jolla 21-13 in the game.

Girls

USDHS 4, Madison 0--After four attempts the top-seeded Dons finally clinched a title.

With 25 minutes left to play, USDHS (22-3-2) scored three goals within four minutes to clinch the victory.

The winning goal however came with two minutes left to play by senior Judey Petix.

Janae Fournier scored first off a corner kick. Tammy Dierks gave the Dons their second goal off a penalty kick.

Freshman Alison Tracht scored the Dons third goal with 21 minutes left to play.