El Toro Rekindles Memories With Wild-Card Victory

In some respects, 1999 is starting to resemble 1998 for the El Toro boys’ soccer team.

The Chargers’ 2-0 victory over Corona Centennial in the wild-card round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs Wednesday wasn’t as exciting as last year’s overtime wild-card win over Orange. But El Toro forward Julian Gaitan, who scored his 11th and 12th goals Wednesday, said last year’s playoff run to the Division I championship game is definitely on his mind.

“Our whole goal was to make the playoffs,” said Gaitan, a senior captain who scored two-game winning goals during last year’s playoff run. “But once we made it, we started thinking about how we did it last year, starting out as a wild-card team. We know that once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen.”

Like last season, the Chargers started slowly and had to scramble to make the playoffs. They clinched a berth on the last day of the regular season with a victory over Irvine. After they beat Orange in overtime last year, they kept winning overtime games all the way to the Division I final, where the Chargers lost to Los Angeles Loyola, 2-1.

El Toro (9-9-5) didn’t need a flair for the dramatic Wednesday. It dominated Centennial most of the way. Centennial (12-6-3) managed only five shots and only one of them had to be saved by El Toro goalkeeper Josh Saunders. El Toro outshot Centennial, 10-5, overall, and 5-1 in the second half. Centennial was hit with four yellow cards.

Gaitan didn’t seem too impressed with Centennial, the third-place team from the Mountain View League.

“We don’t know a lot of teams from outside the area, but I think it’s a lot stronger in Orange County,” Gaitan said.

Although Centennial couldn’t mount an offensive attack, it stayed in the game because El Toro couldn’t capitalize on its scoring chances. El Toro finally scored 10 minutes into the second half on a penalty kick by Gaitan, which he admitted came on a generous call by the referee.

“I thought I got taken down worse in the first half,” he said. “I think it was a redeemer. I don’t know if that was really a PK.”

Gaitan made the victory a little more convincing when he took a pass Jeff Lawler and scored on a 15-yard blast from the right angle with two minutes left.

“I don’t mind scoring on a penalty kick, but it felt good to get one that really counted,” Gaitan said.

For their troubles, the Chargers will travel to second-seeded Long Beach Poly on Saturday in the first round. Last year, El Toro knocked off Esperanza, the county’s third-ranked team, in the first round.

In Division II:

Mater Dei 1, Orange 0--Geoff McKnight scored in the 66th minute off an assist from Chase Bastian for the Monarchs. Mater Dei (13-8-6) visits Palm Springs in the first-round Saturday.

Edison 3, Anaheim 0--Devin Kato, Jason Clifford and Eric Blaska scored for Edison, which plays at University. Kato, a junior, scored his school-record 15th goal of the season. Joey Balbas had five saves in his seventh shutout of the season for the Chargers (14-7-3). Anaheim finishes 5-9-6.

Katella 1, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa 0--Rafael Mendez scored in the 40th minute for Katella (13-8-2). Mendez beat two defenders and then scored off his rebound. Eddie Garcia had three saves for the Knights, who play at Los Angeles Loyola.

Loara 1, Los Amigos 0--Edgar Anzaldo scored on a penalty kick in the 75th minute. Ronald Assef, with five saves, had his eighth shutout of the season. Loara (12-9-2) will play at top-seeded Woodbridge. Los Amigos finishes 13-5-4.

In Division III:

Pacifica 4, Fullerton 1--Marcus Gonzalez scored two goals and Brandon Chow had two assists for Pacifica (12-7-5). Adreiano Lima and Matt Reis scored the other goals for the Mariners, who play at second-seeded Trabuco Hills.