DIVISION II BOYS : Esperanza Wins It on Alliman’s Goal

Esperanza, riding high on emotion into the Southern Section Division II boys’ soccer championship against top-seeded Santa Ana Valley at Gahr High School Saturday night, prevailed with a 2-1 victory.

Mark Alliman scored the winning goal with 6 minutes, 5 seconds remaining. After Mike Morales had taken a corner kick, the ball bounced to Alliman, who kicked it in the goal.

Alliman then did a victory dance of his own, leaping into his teammates’ arms, then sliding onto his knees to midfield.

“No words can describe this victory,” Esperanza Coach Kino Oaxaca said. “We worked our butt off last year, and each time we have won, it has gone down to the last minutes.”

Oaxaca, whose mother passed away Thursday, could barely speak above a whisper after the game.

“It was just an awesome shot,” he said of the winning goal.

Esperanza’s Eric Poole scored the game’s first goal 14:20 into the second half. Poole scored off a Morales corner kick.

Santa Ana Valley’s Antonio Arredondo, a junior halfback, tied the score at 1-1, 23:11 into the second half.

Esperanza (19-2-5) returned to a boys’ soccer playoff championship game for the first time since 1989, when the Aztecs lost to El Centro Central, 3-2, in a the Division 2-A final. The Aztecs made their fourth appearance in a section final Saturday.

It was the first time Santa Ana Valley (24-4-1) has reached a boys’ soccer final and the first time the Falcons reached a section final in any sport in 19 years. The Falcons were winless two seasons ago and finished 14-7-1 last season, reaching the playoff quarterfinals.

Esperanza defeated La Puente Bishop Amat, 2-0, to reach the championship game, and Santa Ana Valley defeated La Canada St. Francis, 5-0, in the other semifinal.

Santa Ana Valley nearly scored 23 minutes into the first half on a shot by Horacio Granados. But Esperanza goalkeeper George Allison, who had 10 saves, caught the shot.