BOYS’ SOCCER ROUNDUP : San Clemente Manages to Escape With a Tie

They only earned a tie in the standings, but the San Clemente boys’ soccer team left Capistrano Valley as a gigantic winner Wednesday.

By coming away with a 1-1 tie, the first-place Tritons maintained a one-game lead over Capistrano Valley in the rapidly dwindling South Coast League race. More importantly, though, the Tritons (14-2-3, 6-0-1) showed how tough they can be when the odds are stacked against them.

The odds took a big swing with nine minutes left in the first half Wednesday, when San Clemente’s Gustavo Garcia received a red card. That meant he had to leave the game and couldn’t be replaced.

Capistrano Valley (15-4-3, 5-1-1) looked as though it would make San Clemente pay dearly for the one-man disadvantage when Gary Berry scored on a thunderous kick outside the goal box 11 minutes into the second half. But the short-handed Tritons regrouped and got a goal from Michael Poirier with 18 minutes left, then held on for the all-important tie.

“I’m a nervous wreck right now,” said San Clemente Coach Michael Pronier, whose team is ranked eighth in the county. “After going a man down, it’s really big to tie, especially with the implications for the league (race).”

Capistrano Valley Coach Ron Willms was angry after the tie that might have ruined his team’s chances for a league title.

“We had it in our hands,” Willms said. “To be a man up and have a one-goal lead and not win, if that isn’t a missed opportunity, I don’t know what is.”

Poirier certainly made good on his big opportunity. His teammate, Carlos Rosas, took a shot that Capistrano Valley goalkeeper Brian Beach stopped with a sliding block. The rebound came to Poirier, who booted the ball into the wide-open net.

“It looked pretty big,” Poirier said of the open net. “Hey, this was big.”