BOYS’ SOCCER / SOUTH COAST LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Ties Despite Players Being Suspended

Despite the suspension of four starters, Mater Dei was able to hold No. 5 Capistrano Valley to a scoreless tie in South Coast League boys’ soccer Friday at Capistrano Valley High School.

The Monarchs were without senior starters Paul Gerdis, Patrick Shinnefield, Danny Smith and freshman Norman Giroux, who Monarch Coach Martin Springer said were suspended due to a “breach of school regulations.” Springer would not elaborate nor confirm if the players had been suspended from school or only from the team.

Gerdis is Mater Dei’s starting goalkeeper, forward Shinnefield is the first player in school history to be a four-year varsity starter, Smith plays defense and midfielder Giroux is a national under-15 player.

But the fifth-ranked Monarchs bounced back from a humbling 5-0 loss to unranked Mission Viejo on Wednesday.

“I was embarrassed and ashamed after our loss on Wednesday,” Springer said. “Today I am as proud as I could be. We were the better team and we showed a great deal of heart.”

Mater Dei (10-4-2, 2-1-1) dominated the first half, swarming Cougar goalkeeper Andrew Matlaf and outshooting the Cougars, 8-4.

Capistrano Valley (10-3-5, 2-0-3), which leads the league with seven points, picked up its game in the second half, getting off six shots to the Monarchs’ four.

The Cougars had several scoring opportunities, including one in which senior Todd Weidner had a one-on-one with sophomore goalkeeper Seth Fechtman with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Weidner was able to fake Fechtman and get the ball alone 20 yards in front of the net, but Monarch defender Giancarlo Barzotti raced in and got a piece of the ball as the shot went wide left. Fechtman, who replaced Gerdis in goal, had four saves.

“It’s been like this all year,” Cougar Coach Ron Willms said. “We get opportunities to score and we can’t complete them.”

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In another South Coast League game:

Trabuco Hills 1, Mission Viejo 1--Eric Pfeiffer scored on a penalty kick for host Mission Viejo (5-2-6, 1-2-2), and Chris Sena scored for Trabuco Hills (5-7-2, 1-2-2).