BOYS’ SOCCER ROUNDUP : Santiago Wins, but Kennedy Retains Lead

Santiago High played tight defense while beating Kennedy, 1-0, Thursday on the Cavaliers’ field.

But because Kennedy (13-4-2, 9-2-2 in league) had come into the match 1 1/2 games ahead of Santiago (14-5-1, 9-3-1), the Fighting Irish retained their hold on first place in the Garden Grove League.

The league championship will be decided today when Kennedy plays host to Los Amigos and Santiago faces La Quinta, which lost to the Cavaliers this season. If Kennedy ties and Santiago wins, the teams would share the league title.

“I think we’re very fortunate to have a second chance,” Kennedy Coach Vladimir Nieto said. “All (Santiago) did was shorten the gap.”

Thirteen minutes into the match, forward Rafael Mosqueda caught Kennedy goalie R.J. Gonzalez away from his post, and Mosqueda’s sliding shot hit the left post and caromed in.

Gonzalez, who had five saves in the match, faced 12 shots on goal from the Cavaliers, who remained aggressive throughout the match.

Kennedy was unable to penetrate the Santiago fullbacks and managed only four shots on goal. The Fighting Irish also played the final 55 minutes a man down because midfielder Johnny Medina received a red card because of a flagrant foul and was disqualified just before the first half ended.

“I have to compliment (Santiago),” Nieto said. “They moved the ball very well, they were very disciplined and kept the ball away from us.”

--HEATHER STEVENS

In other Garden Grove League matches:

Los Amigos 3, Rancho Alamitos 0--Francisco Perez scored two goals for Los Amigos (8-7-2, 7-4-2).

La Quinta 5, Bolsa Grande 2--Tuan Dang, Dan Ngo, Brian Barney, Mike Burg and Luis Aponte scored for La Quinta (9-8-2, 7-4-2).

In the Century League:

El Modena 2, Orange 1--Alex Mandel scored the winning goal with two minutes left for El Modena (11-2-1, 7-1-1), which upset second-ranked Orange and clinched a share of its first league title.

The Vanguards, ranked 10th in the county, moved goalkeeper Freddy Romo to forward with 15 minutes left, and he scored his second goal of the season about five minutes later to tie the score. Rogelio Marquez scored for Orange (14-3-6, 5-1-3) with 30 seconds left in the first half.

Foothill 2, Villa Park 0--Steve Patterson and Marco Foto scored, and Jason Vlcek had 12 saves to record his seventh shutout of the season for the Knights (6-9-7, 3-5-1).

In the Sunset League:

Ocean View 4, Santa Ana 2--After trailing, 2-1, at the half, Ocean View, ranked No. 1 in the county and the Southern Section 4-A, rallied with goals by Bradley Walker, Ryan Schomberg and Chris Martin.

The visiting Seahawks (17-4-3, 10-0-1) had allowed only one goal in 10 league matches. Miguel Abarca and Rafael Serrano each scored in the first half for Santa Ana (4-4-3 in league), ranked No. 6 in the county.

In the Empire League:

Cypress 1, Los Alamitos 1--Teddy Watson scored with 10 minutes left, giving Los Alamitos (10-5-5, 5-1-3) the tie. Shadi Badawiya had a first-half goal for Cypress.

In the Orange League:

Brea-Olinda 5, Savanna 0--Mike Brunet scored three goals for visiting Brea-Olinda.

Laguna Hills 8, Costa Mesa 0--Giuseppe Lombardo and Andy Cook each had three goals for the Hawks (15-6-3, 7-1-1).

In the Sea View League:

Corona del Mar 5, University 2--Midfielder Tanner Rupp and sophomore Jason Boyce each scored two goals for the Sea Kings (6-14-1, 6-3-1). Scott Perez scored both University goals.

Saddleback 1, Woodbridge 1--Jose Escudero scored his 12th goal in 10 matches for Saddleback (13-4-1, 8-1-1), which won its fifth consecutive Sea View League championship.