Woodbridge Gets No Relief as Mater Dei Rolls to Title

The flu, the two-hour round-trip drives and the accumulation of games had zapped most of the energy out of fifth-ranked Woodbridge. What little the Warriors had left Tuesday morning was taken away by Mater Dei’s well-organized defense and alert offense.

The result was a 1-0 Mater Dei victory that could have been much more lopsided if not for Woodbridge goalkeeper Jason Del Valle, who had 13 saves in a semifinal game of the Torrey Pines Holiday tournament at La Costa Canyon High.

“They had a lot more energy than we did,” Warrior Coach Jon Szczuka said. “They won most of the 50-50 balls, and that led to their chances and eventually their goal.”

Mater Dei went on to defeat unranked Capistrano Valley, 2-1, in the championship final.

The third-ranked Monarchs (14-2-1) outshot Woodbridge (7-2-1), 19-6, but Mater Dei didn’t score until the 67th minute, when midfielder Ed Jensen volleyed a rebound of a Kevin Novak shot past Del Valle.

“We missed clearing the ball and they pounced on it,” said Szczuka, who was missing starters Brett Niebling (flu) and Ryan Orosz (ankle). “Mater Dei played really well. They did a good job of running off the ball all day.”

The Monarchs also did a good job of limiting Woodbridge’s scoring chances. Sweeper Rawlston Masaniai rarely allowed the Warriors to string more than one pass together in the penalty box, which made things easy on goalkeeper Radames Lafaurie, who had three saves in notching his seventh shutout.

“We were dragging too, but we did a lot of training in the preseason and it pays off in times like this,” Mater Dei Coach Martin Stringer said.

Stringer didn’t put a lot of stock in his victory over a team he might see again in the Southern Section Division II playoffs, but he wasn’t discounting it either.

“I’d rather be in my situation than theirs,” Stringer said. “It’s good to get a look at each other because we might be seeing them down the road.”

Szczuka said he is counting on seeing Mater Dei again.