They’re Frustrated Champions : Div. III boys’ soccer: Missed opportunities result in 1-1 tie for Woodbridge and Alta Loma.

It was an unusual scene. Silence enveloped the field at Cerritos Gahr High School as the two teams gathered at midfield, neither looking proud to be a Southern Section champion.

After finishing tied, 1-1, in the Division III boys’ soccer final Saturday, Woodbridge and Rancho Cucamonga Alta Loma cited different reasons to be frustrated.

For the Warriors, it was a missed opportunity to win when Gustav Gratzer’s shot rolled an inch wide with two minutes left.

“I feel like a champion, but I would just like to have that one back,” Gratzer said.

Top-seeded Alta Loma and Coach Michael Collins blamed officiating he said kept the pace of the game at a crawl.

“The officials were cheating us out of a championship,” Collins said. “This most definitely feels like a loss.”

Though not pleased with the outcome, Woodbridge Coach Jon Szczuka found plenty to be encouraged about afterward. Because section rules do not allow overtime or shootouts in championship soccer games, the Warriors (20-5-3) won their first boys’ soccer title and extended their unbeaten streak to 19 games.

“When you talk about a championship, you want to be champion, not champions,” he said. “But they have nothing to hang their heads at. A couple hours from now, they’ll sit back and realize they are champs, then they’ll pick their heads up.”

Added Woodbridge senior Mike Jacobs: “We came out to play, but I don’t think we came out to win. If we would have really came out to win, we would have taken it by a good margin.”

Early on, it appeared as if the Braves (25-3-4) were going to be tough to contend with as they peppered Felipe Carlini in the Woodbridge goal.

Woodbridge then got a rare first-half opportunity when Jacobs and Alta Loma goalkeeper Sean Rockwell collided chasing down a free kick in the box. The ball rolled to Mike Bartholomew, who knocked it in. But the play was ruled dead because Gratzer had booted the free kick while the ball was still in motion.

Later in the half, the Braves broke through on a counterattack with Jay Gomez on the right side. Gomez sent a one-hop pass to Carlos Bocanegra over the middle, and he nailed the shot into the top right corner for a 1-0 lead.

The second half started favorably for the Warriors when Alta Loma made a bad pass in its own end. Jacobs jumped on the ball and streaked down the sideline with the nearest pursuers five yards behind.

Rockwell made a move to the near post, and Jacobs sent it toward the far end on a line, tying the score two minutes into the second half. It was his sixth goal in five playoff games.

The Warriors had two other chances to win, but the best opportunity came with two minutes left.

Jacobs used the sole of his shoe to send a pass backward to Gratzer, who split defenders up the middle. Rockwell charged out, and Gratzer made the right decision, but his shot rolled slowly wide.