Reseda Claims Diluted Victory

It was expected to be one of the best games of the season, but with 10 Birmingham High starters not on the field Reseda cruised to a 2-0 victory Tuesday at Birmingham.

Seven Birmingham starters were slapped with suspensions ranging from two-to-four games for participating in club tournaments over Thanksgiving weekend.

The players were warned by school officials if they played over the holiday weekend they would be suspended two games for every one club game they played in, in accordance with City Section rules.

“We shouldn’t have been suspended,” said Jamie Gomez, who received a four-game suspension for playing in the Irvine Cup. “I was told that after Thanksgiving you can’t play with your club team. We have to look out for ourselves. We get scholarships through club, not high school.”

The Regents (2-0) outshot the Patriots, 22-6, but goalkeeper John Wall of Birmingham kept the Patriots (2-2-1) from being blown out with 12 saves.

“They have three great players, but they need somebody to organize their midfield and their defense is so-so,” said Coach Jose Freire of Birmingham. “With our full team we would have no problem beating them.”

William Sims put the Regents ahead, 1-0, in the sixth minute when he sent a shot into the upper left corner of the goal.

Jesse Servin added a goal in the 14th minute.

“I wanted to concentrate on our ball control and getting some consistency,” said Coach Julio Castillo of Reseda. “I told the guys to respect Birmingham, because they weren’t playing with their full team and it wasn’t going to be fun for us.

“It was a good win, because we didn’t make them feel bad. It was all about respect.”