No. 1 Orange Routs St. Margaret’s

It was a first-round mismatch that had even tournament director Brian Fallman cringing.

Still, St. Margaret’s Coach Paul Gallegos had only “thank yous” for Fallman, even after Orange crushed his team, 7-0, in the first round of the Trabuco Hills Invitational boys’ soccer tournament Thursday at Trabuco Hills High.

Orange, the top-ranked team in Orange County, led, 4-0, after only 15 minutes. Alex Garcia scored the first two goals, then Genar Lopez, Jose Velasquez, Daniel Califf, Augustine Valverde and Victor Diaz added goals for the Panthers.

Orange (7-0-2), top-ranked in the Southern Section Division II, also caught St. Margaret’s (4-1-2) short-handed. But Gallegos wasn’t complaining.

“We have six starters who are away on vacation,” Gallegos said, “and the kids were overwhelmed in the first 20 minutes. But I give them a lot of credit because they could have just quit at halftime when we were down 5-0.

“Orange is a team that is three or four steps above us. But we wanted to play in this tournament. When you play teams that are at that level, it can only increase your own level of play.”

St. Margaret’s, which has an enrollment of only 200 students, was clearly overmatched by a bigger, stronger and more skilled Orange squad.

St. Margaret’s didn’t create its first scoring chance until the 35th minute when Ryan Downey, the boys’ cross-country state Division V champion, worked free on a breakaway up the right wing, but his shot from 20 yards sailed high.

“We were clearly outplayed,” Gallegos said. “But we got some opportunities. We were just looking for little victories.”