Without an Offense, Harvard-Westlake Has No Kick Coming in Overtime Defeat : Division III soccer: Wolverines, with two best players out, fall to Bell Gardens, 1-0.

After its 1-0 overtime loss to Bell Gardens High, the Harvard-Westlake boys’ soccer team can’t say it didn’t have its chances.

Actually, it could say exactly that.

The Wolverines, playing without two of their best players, could not create any dangerous scoring opportunities in the Southern Section Division III semifinal Tuesday at Harvard-Westlake, and Bell Gardens finally scored the game’s lone goal in overtime.

Harvard-Westlake finished the season 20-2-1. Bell Gardens improved to 20-5-3 and will face Burroughs in the championship match Saturday.

Without junior midfielders Brian Angelini (out for receiving two yellow cards in the previous match) and Warren Davidoff (sprained ankle), Harvard-Westlake’s offense lacked spark and creativity.

But the defense was solid, continually shutting down the Lancer attack, until a lapse in the fifth minute of the first overtime period.

Lancer defender Gustavo Garita took a pass after a free kick, controlled it with his chest, then turned and fired a shot past Wolverine goalkeeper Jay Rosen.

“It’s just really disappointing,” Harvard-Westlake forward Jordan Elias said. “I felt that we were a better team. I don’t want to make excuses, but when they scored, four of our normal starters weren’t on the field.”

It was left for the offense to desperately try to manufacture a goal, and it could not.

“Those guys (Angelini and Davidoff) know how to play the ball out of the midfield,” Elias said. “Without them, we lose a little cohesion.”