Capistrano Valley Frustrated After Tie With Mater Dei

A home loss to start the South Coast League boys’ soccer season would have been devastating for second-ranked Capistrano Valley, but maybe not quite as frustrating as Friday’s 1-1 tie with Mater Dei.

“We deserved a win,” Capistrano Valley forward Phil Latini said afterward as he stood in the steady drizzle that had fallen throughout the game. “We worked our butts off all game. One shot on target and they get a tie.”

The shot was a smash from 25 yards by Mater Dei senior Nick Marin with 15 minutes left in the game. The low line drive hit in the mud in front of the goal and skidded past a helpless Jon Tarnow.

“It’s very frustrating, especially to have a goal like that,” Capistrano Valley Coach Ron Willms said. “That shot happened to hit the mud at the right time. I give the kid credit for shooting it, because in this weather you never know what’s going to happen.”

Mater Dei (8-4-2) was making no apologies about the tying goal or the way it played.

“I thought we played well enough to win and that we got what we deserved,” Mater Dei Coach Martin Stringer said. “We showed a lot of heart. I’m very proud of these guys.”

The Monarchs were playing without two starters--forward Bret Corbin and defender Greg Bechtold--and another starter, Luis Inga, played with a cast on his broken right wrist. Corbin, a second-team Times all-county selection who has played in only two games, is probably out for the season with a severely strained groin. Bechtold recently had knee surgery and is out for the season.

Capistrano Valley (14-2-2) is healthy, but the Cougars were feeling a bit unlucky Friday. They outshot Mater Dei 9-6 in the first half and 3-1 in the second. Twice in the first half, Capistrano Valley had good looks in front of the goal but couldn’t get the ball past goalkeeper Jeff McKeever, who had six saves.

“I gave two assists on breakaways, but we missed both of them,” Latini said.

The only pass that was converted into a goal came with a minute left in the first half when Chris Latini, Phil’s twin brother, headed in a perfectly deflected corner kick by Ruben Garcia. Latini’s struck the ball hard and McKeever never had a chance at a save.