St. Francis Prevails With Quick Strikes

Twelve minutes was all it took.

That’s all the time the St. Francis High boys’ soccer team needed to bury Arroyo Grande, 4-0, in the Southern Section Division III title game Saturday at Gahr High.

The Golden Knights scored their goals in a 12-minute stretch of the first half and cruised to their first section title.

Pete Vagenas scored twice and Eric Johnson and Kris Cash each scored once.

St. Francis’ championship run was somewhat unexpected. The Golden Knights, Mission League runners-up to Loyola, were the section’s only team to finish second in its league and advance to a title game. Last season, St. Francis won the league title but lost early in the playoffs.

“Last year we came in thinking we were big dogs, and we got spanked in the second round,” St. Francis midfielder Pete Vagenas said. “The difference this year was motivation. The [nine] seniors have nothing more to look forward to after this year.”

As they have all season, senior midfielders Vagenas and Johnson played superbly.

Vagenas, who has signed to play at UCLA next season, displayed his knack for delivering well-timed passes from the center of the field. Johnson used speed and a strong touch on crosses and shots to give Arroyo Grande fits from his outside position.

Arroyo Grande, which also lost to St. Francis in a tournament game earlier this season, had the Golden Knights on their heels early.

But with defenders Andy VanOrden, Darin Maxwell, Kip Portz, and Ryan Norstadt holding fast, St. Francis got untracked.

In the 28th minute, Vagenas collected a cross from Johnson and had a first shot blocked by Arroyo Grande goalkeeper Salvador Rivas before scoring on the rebound.

Johnson scored his 21st goal in the 33rd minute with a low, bouncing 20-yard shot. In the 34th minute, Vagenas took a pass from Cash and scored his 21st goal on a breakaway. Cash finished the scoring in the final minute of the half when he put in the rebound of a Vagenas shot.

Vagenas, 5 feet 7 and 135 pounds, has been tightly defended all season and said the Eagles tried to shadow him as well. However, after being slightly roughed up in the game’s opening minutes, he moved back to play a defensive midfield position, then moved back up on the attack about the time the St. Francis offense exploded.

“It was good because while I was in the back I worked to keep the tempo down and get things settled,” Vagenas said. “I think my moving around threw them off.”