Minuses a Plus for Kennedy

With four starters taking the SAT and two others unaccounted for, Coach Fred Singer believed his Kennedy High boys’ team was in for a long day.

The Golden Cougars were facing defending Marmonte League champion Newbury Park, still emotionally charged from a come-from-behind victory over South Pasadena two days earlier.

Kennedy, with a gift from the referees, denied the Panthers their second consecutive late-game comeback with a 2-1 victory in the first round of the Burroughs tournament Saturday.

“I’m pleased with the way we played,” said Singer, who suited only 12 players. “With all the players we had missing, we were very lucky to do what we did.”

With the Golden Cougars (1-2) ahead, 2-0, midway through the second half, Chris Behrend of Newbury Park sneaked behind goalkeeper Miguel Aguilar, who was preparing to kick the ball into play after a save.

While Aguilar was bouncing the ball, Behrend stole the ball as it hit the ground and kicked it into the net. However, the referees disallowed the goal, claiming Aguilar had possession.

“It should have counted,” Behrend said. “I’ve seen it count before. You see that kind of stuff in the English League all the time.”

The Cougars relied on counterattacks to score their goals.

The first goal came on a corner kick in the 21st minute. Catalino Garcia sent a cross near the top of the 18-yard box to Alfonso Mora, who stepped between four defenders and beat goalie Brett Farren.

“It was an easy goal,” Mora said. “There was a wall of four of them and I stepped right in and hit it.”

Javier Moran extended the lead to 2-0 on a scissors kick from a cross by Edgar Gutierrez.

With less than seven minutes to play, forward Ronald Gallegos of Newbury Park (1-1) cut the deficit to 2-1 by slipping a shot past Aguilar, who was guarding the near post.

“When I got the ball I thought of kicking it to the far post, but I couldn’t,” Gallegos said. “So I went to the near post.”

Aguilar, making his first start, had 16 saves.