Laguna Hills Wins Amid Controversy
This neighborhood soccer war between Laguna Beach and Laguna Hills had everything: spectacular goals, acrobatic saves, yellow cards, red cards and bruising collisions. Even a little controversy.
With three minutes remaining, Laguna Hills’ sweeper Abdul Mazid took a through ball that tipped off teammate Ryan Johnson’s shinguard. Mazid sprinted downfield and flicked the ball over goalkeeper Ryan Buist, who had come out to challenge. The ball was tipped in by Laguna Hills halfback Darren Doi.
Doi’s goal eventually stood, giving visiting Laguna Hills a 2-1 victory over Laguna Beach Wednesday night in Pacific Coast League play. But it wasn’t official until after referees conferred and waved off an offsides call.
The loss dropped Laguna Beach (9-7-2, 4-2-1) into a second-place tie with Laguna Hills (12-6-6, 3-1-3), which has defeated its archrival four consecutive times.
Laguna Beach was a man down for the last 10 minutes because of a red card given to Ryan Wolfe after a scuffle with Doi, who was given a yellow card. When the game ended, Artist Coach Andy Thomas blew off some steam.
“He’s flagged the play, but he’s not calling it,” Thomas said. “I don’t understand it. I just feel sorry for the kids. This was a great soccer game. It’s a shame it had to end that way. My kids played well enough to win.”
Laguna Hills Coach Scott Johnson said he was holding his breath as the referees conferred.
“There’s no way that was offsides,” Johnson said. “If they had pulled that ball out of the net . . .”
In other league games:
Aliso Niguel 2, Estancia 1--Mike Carroll scored twice and Brock Schermerhorn assisted on both goals for the Wolverines.
University 2, Costa Mesa 1--University (11-5-4, 4-1-2) built a 2-0 lead after Jeff Horowitz assisted on goals by Eric Tygenhof and Matt Larson.
In the Century League:
El Modena 2, Orange 2--An early missed penalty kick proved costly for Orange, which fell into second place behind Foothill.
The Panthers (9-5-1, 5-1-1) took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Rafael Escalante, but fell behind after goals by Augie Vilchis and Francisco Barrajas.
In the Empire League:
No. 5 El Dorado 2, Katella 0--Ignacio Cid scored both goals. Kyle Graham got his 23rd assist of the season on Cid’s first goal. Ryan Weirich had his 14th shutout of the season with four saves.
In the Golden West League:
Servite 1, Tustin 0--Matt Terry scored in the 66th minute from 25 feet. The victory was the 13th shutout of the season for the Friars, tying a school record.
In the Sea View League:
No. 1 Woodbridge 5, Corona del Mar 0--Kevin Friedland scored twice on direct kicks in the first 20 minutes as Woodbridge (18-1-1, 6-0-1) opened a 4-0 halftime lead. Goalkeeper Doug Allan got his 13th shutout of the season for the Warriors.
Santa Margarita 3, No. 8 Irvine 0--Sebastian Galmarini and Jonathon Nebow scored for Santa Margarita (11-7-4, 3-3-1). Spencer George assisted on all three goals.
In South Coast League:
No. 9 Capistrano Valley 2, Mater Dei 2--Matt Doty tied the score 15 minutes into the second half for Mater Dei (10-7-6, 2-2-3). Jordan Harvey and Tim Fallman scored first-half goals for Capistrano Valley (11-5-6, 2-2-3).
In the Sunset League:
No. 10 Huntington Beach 2, No. 6 Esperanza 0--Matt Mosley scored in the 72nd minute for Huntington Beach (13-6-2, 6-1).
