Esperanza Stops Capistrano Valley

Capistrano Valley looked as if it barely belonged on the same field with Esperanza for the first 65 minutes Tuesday. Then in the last 15 minutes, Capistrano Valley bombarded Esperanza’s goal with eight shots and looked good enough to win the Southern Section Division I boys’ soccer title.

But none of that mattered because only one of those eight shots got past Esperanza goalkeeper Nate Fikse and third-ranked Esperanza held off sixth-ranked Capistrano Valley, 2-1, to advance to the Division I quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years.

Esperanza (25-3-1) will play Sunset League rival Fountain Valley in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The teams split their two games this season.

Esperanza appeared to be coasting to an easy victory over the Cougars, who were playing without three injured starters. They lost a fourth, goalkeeper Mark Greco, to an ankle injury in the first half. The Aztecs scored in the third minute when Dave Munoz flicked a goal through Greco’s legs. They scored again in the fourth minute of the second half when Josh Deits left-footed a dribbler across the goal and past an out-of-position Jon Tarnow.

Esperanza outshot Capistrano Valley, 5-3, in the first half and probably could have scored a few more times had it been able to finish some easy chances. But Capistrano Valley (17-7-3) moved a midfielder up to forward midway through the second half and began putting pressure on Fikse. The Cougars found the net with 10 minutes left, when Eric Johnson’s corner kick was headed in by forward Mauricio Mammoliti.

The Cougars nearly scored a minute later when Bill Hierl’s 40-yard drive, which was helped by the strong wind, hit the crossbar and deflected over the goal. Capistrano Valley had a few more scoring chances in the last five minutes, the best one came in the last seconds when Chris Latini’s header off a Johnson corner kick just cleared the crossbar.

“Every opportunity they had in the end was a solid opportunity,” Esperanza Coach Kino Oaxaca said.

Oaxaca was relieved to hear that final double-whistle from the referee.

“I think we relaxed,” Oaxaca said. “A couple kids didn’t do their job and it cost us a goal. And then we can’t clear the ball and it creates more problems for us. But overall, I’m pleased. We’re still here.”