PREP SOCCER ROUNDUP : Santa Ana Does All the Dirty Work, Wins Title

Wet and muddy but exhilarated, the Santa Ana boys’ soccer team won the Orange tournament championship with a 4-2 victory over Sunset League-rival Ocean View.

Huge patches of mud dotted the field at Chapman College, greatly impeding the ball’s progress. But the Saints (9-2) scored early, and kept up a fast, aggressive pace through the game. With about 30 minutes remaining in the first half, midfielder Hector Perez got the ball directly in front of the goal, and scored.

Twenty minutes later, Ocean View (7-4-2) got on the board after a corner kick. The ball rolled to halfback Scott Roberts, who passed it to Ryan Robertson, who scored from about four feet.

Santa Ana broke the tie on an Ocean View error with 1:25 left in the half. After a scramble for the ball in Seahawk territory, fullback Brian Engesser turned and fed the ball back to goalie Todd Aubin. But Aubin was caught outside the box, and the ball rolled slowly into the goal.

Aubin, filling in for starting goalie Brian Grace, who was ill, made five saves. Saint goalie Jose Barbosa had eight saves.

Santa Ana scored with less than a minute to go in the first quarter, when forward Rafael Serrano shot diagonally into the left corner.

The Seahawks cut the deficit to one at the start of the second half. Robertson took a free kick, and halfback Radim Konecny hit the ball in with his head.