Schmidt Helps Newbury Park Maintain First Place
It’s crunch time in the Marmonte League boys’ soccer race and Casey Schmidt of Newbury Park High put the squeeze on Westlake, scoring three goals and assisting on another in the Panthers’ 4-2 victory Friday.
Newbury Park (9-4-5, 4-0-3 in league play), which hasn’t made the playoffs since 1994, maintained a narrow lead over second-place and defending champion Thousand Oaks.
Westlake, which hasn’t qualified for the postseason since winning the 1997 league title, fell to fourth place.
Newbury Park’s bid for the title rests in large part with Schmidt, a senior who sat out all but five games last season with back and hip ailments but who recently earned a spot in the U.S. under-18 national pool.
With outstanding speed that has led to 11 goals, Schmidt has blossomed into the region’s best forward, and against Westlake he scored three consecutive times to overcome a 1-0 deficit.
“You knew he’d score a bunch of goals one night and it had to be against us,” said Bill Propster, Westlake’s coach. “It wasn’t so much because he did anything, it’s because the ball came to him and none of our guys were there.”
Propster, who coached Schmidt in club soccer, meant no disrespect. He was simply frustrated with the Warriors’ sloppiness on their half of the field.
Ryan Woods, Westlake’s sweeper, echoed the thought.
“We didn’t [guard] Casey tightly enough, we were disorganized and we dribbled too much through the midfield,” Woods said.
It was in the midfield that the game was decided, where Cause Hanna, Paul Bell and Brian White gave the Panthers an edge. They consistently won loose balls and fed them to Schmidt as he moved forward.
“I’m a lot faster than their defenders so I could beat them to the ball an sustain pressure in the offensive third of the field,” Schmidt said. “Cause is our best player. He’s gotten the job done all season.”
Westlake took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute on a goal by Wilson Cerritos but two minutes later Schmidt beat a defender on the right side of the penalty area and scored from 10 yards.
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead three minutes before halftime when Schmidt headed in a corner kick by Christian Guardado. The score moved to 3-1 four minutes after the break when a 40-yard free kick by the Panthers’ Paul Bell deflected off Westlake’s Evan Conkey and Schmidt headed it in from five yards.
Westlake pulled to within 3-2 in the 62nd minute when goalkeeper Geoffrey Raives tipped Eric Brin’s corner kick into his own net. Newbury Park’s Jacob Pollack scored with three minutes left on assists from Schmidt and Bell.
