BOYS’ SOCCER ROUNDUP : Last Year’s Loser Wins This Time

Santa Barbara’s Alfredo Moreno remembers how bad it felt to be on the losing side of a shootout loss in the final of last year’s Marina soccer tournament. He wasn’t ready to experience that again.

Moreno decided to be the hero this year. After Villa Park’s Jeff Szekeres was stopped on his penalty kick, Moreno faked out Spartan goalkeeper Sean Barko and slipped the ball into the net, giving Santa Barbara the tournament championship Wednesday in a shootout at Marina High.

The score was tied, 1-1, after two 10-minute overtime periods and two five-minute sudden-death sessions.

“I wasn’t thinking about last year,” said Moreno, whose team was beaten by host Marina a year ago. “I was just thinking about putting it in.”

Moreno, a senior forward who was the kicker on the Dons’ football team, said he knew right where to put it.

“He always dives right, so I always go to my right,” Moreno said.

Villa Park Coach Pat Noyes wasn’t exactly heartbroken about his team’s shootout loss.

“What it basically means is, it’s a tie,” he said. “All that means is you are the champion of the tournament and you get your name on the plaque. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

The Spartans (7-2-4) fell behind 1-0 on a first-half goal by the Dons’ Hugo Alcaraz, but they tied it with 20 seconds left in the half on a goal by Drew Wetzler that glanced off the left post. Wetzler was assisted by Sean Power.

Santa Barbara (10-2-1) had most of the scoring opportunities in the second half and the four overtimes, but could never capitalize on its chances. Villa Park was outshot, 22-12.

Villa Park, which played five games in two days, was missing four players, including two starters.

In the third-place game, Dana Hills defeated Palos Verdes Peninsula, 3-1. Andres Morgante had a goal, his ninth, and an assist for the Dolphins (8-2-1). Tyler Morgan had a goal and Micah Dennison also scored his ninth goal for Dana Hills.

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In other Marina tournament games:

El Toro 2, Loyola 2 (El Toro wins shootout)--Goalie Sean Taeger blocked a penalty kick to give El Toro (8-1-3) the victory in a shootout, 4-2.

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In the Orange tournament:

La Habra 1, Cerritos 0--Robert Macias scored the game’s only goal in the first half for La Habra (6-2-2) in a semifinal. La Habra will face Edison in the championship game at 7 p.m. today at Chapman University.

Edison 6, Trabuco Hills 3--Edison (9-0-1) remained undefeated behind a strong team effort which produced goals from six different players.