Oilers Prove Themselves by Beating No. 3 Mater Dei

Huntington Beach entered the Marina boys’ soccer tournament final undefeated but unproved. The Oilers emerged simply unbeaten after defeating third-ranked Mater Dei, 3-1, Wednesday at Marina High.

Huntington Beach had compiled a 9-0-1 record without beating a team ranked in the county’s top 10. So there was some doubt even among some Huntington Beach players.

But that doubt was erased after the Oilers’ convincing victory over Mater Dei (18-3-1), which was playing in its third tournament final of the month.

“This was our first real test,” said Oiler defender Nick Schwab, who headed in the tie-breaking goal in the 57th minute on a cross from Drew McAthy. “We’re a good team, but we needed to show everyone else how good we are.”

The Oilers didn’t look too good through the first 30 minutes as Mater Dei controlled play and took five of the first six shots on goal. One of those shots, a header by Ruben Rosales, got by Huntington Beach goalkeeper Ryan Hopkins.

Mater Dei appeared to be heading into halftime with the momentum and the lead, but that changed when Huntington Beach forward Kyle Hubbard took advantage of a misplay by goalkeeper Radames Lafaurie to tie it with 10 seconds left. With Lafaurie out of goal, Hubbard volleyed in a ball that had bounced off the crossbar.

“That was just a silly mistake, but it gave Huntington Beach a psychological advantage going into the second half,” Mater Dei Coach Martin Stringer said. “It let them in the game and they played well after that.”

The Oilers, whose only blemish is a tie with University, followed Schwab’s goal with another one in the 69th minute. Forward Joel Murphy beat two defenders off the dribble and scored unassisted, easily beating Lafaurie to the far post.

Huntington Beach Coach Kevin Smith was relieved to get the victory, but he wasn’t in the mood to celebrate.

“I’m real happy, but we have to keep this in perspective,” he said. “In our league [the Sunset], every game is going to be like this. We’re not going to make this our highlight. This is just a stepping stone.”

Schwab said he realizes there is a lot of work to be done.

“Our league is brutal,” he said. “It just gets harder from here on in.”

In the consolation final at the Marina tournament:

University 5, Fullerton 2--All-tournament selection Chris Barton scored four goals and Chris Howard scored one for University (8-3-1). Margarito Valdez scored two goals for Fullerton (8-4-2).

In the Ontario Christian tournament:

Ontario Christian 3, Orange Lutheran 1--Rob Vis scored two goals and Jeff Irwin scored one in the first half to lead Ontario Christian (4-4) to a consolation victory. Ryan Thompson scored in the 70th minute off a pass from Sean Silva for Orange Lutheran (6-4-1).

In the Trabuco Hills tournament:

No. 1 Santa Margarita 1, Trabuco Hills 0 (OT)--Ryan Curtis scored the game-winning goal with just over one minute remaining in overtime for Santa Margarita, the top-ranked team in the county.

Trabuco Hills, which had already knocked off two ranked teams earlier in the tournament, didn’t convert several good chances to tie the game in the final minutes.

Capistrano Valley 1, Santa Clarita Valencia 0 (OT)--Capistrano Valley’s Garret Petry scored in overtime for the Cougars (9-3-3) in the consolation final.

Los Angeles Loyola 1, Aliso Niguel 0--Seth Eaton’s second-half goal helped lead Loyola to a fifth-place finish. Marty Sigler finished with 13 saves for Aliso Niguel (7-3-3).

El Toro 2, Edison 1--Sem Lopez and Andy Kositkun scored first-half goals to lead El Toro (6-3-2) in a consolation game. Jeff Kunze scored in the second half for Edison.

In the San Diego tournament:

No. 7 Servite 3, Rancho Bernardo 2 (OT)--Matt Kubota’s goal with no time remaining in overtime to give Servite the victory in the quarterfinals. David Trejo and Jeff Murphy also scored for the Friars.

In the semifinals, Servite lost to San Diego Valhalla, 3-1. All-tournament selection John Trejo scored for Servite.