Calabasas Shows Crespi It Has Some Kick Left, 1-0

When the final whistle blew, Crespi High goalkeeper Peter Bomar sat in front of his goal motionless, elbows resting on his knees, arms crossed and head tucked between his legs.

Bomar was stunned.

He and the heavily favored Celts, who banked on winning their first tournament in school history, were outplayed by inexperienced and outmanned Calabasas, 1-0, in the championship game of the Buena tournament Friday.

Danny Barth scored midway through the first half.

After a 1-3-1 start, the Coyotes have gone 6-0-2.

The tournament championship was the second in 24 seasons for Calabasas. The Coyotes won the Alemany tournament in 1979.

With elite teams such as St. Francis and Ventura entered in the tournament, the unheralded Coyotes (7-3-3) were not considered a title contender.

The Coyotes returned just three starters from last year’s 21-2-1 team.

The Coyotes used the lack of respect as motivation and got stronger as the tournament progressed.

‘It’s the perfect Cinderella story,” Calabasas Coach John Reich said. “If you want the analogy. We saw the slipper, we grabbed it and we held onto it.

“We are very young and inexperienced.”

Crespi, which had won six consecutive games, entered the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the region.

However, the Celts (9-2) struggled from the start as the quick Coyotes controlled most of the first half.

The Celts had difficulty creating offense.

The Celts picked up their play in the second half, but each time Crespi built an attack the Coyotes committed a foul, slowing the pace.

“[The fouls] really were not purposeful,” Reich said. “It wasn’t by design.

“They were smart fouls. We were fighting for the ball, rather than letting them go by.”

The Celts’ best opportunity to score came early in the second half when Mitchell Reyes’ shot from 15 yards was kicked over the goal.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” said Crespi Coach Rob Kodama, whose team outscored opponents, 34-5, before losing to the Coyotes.

“In some ways the loss may be a good thing for us. It wakes us up again. You find out a lot about your team when your backs are up against the wall.

“We didn’t bring our ‘A’ game [Friday].”