Rio Mesa Gives Camarillo a Lesson

Finals week ended less than three hours earlier, but school wasn’t quite out for Camarillo High. The problem was the Rio Mesa boys’ team was doing all the teaching.

The Spartans dominated every aspect of the game in a 2-0 victory over Camarillo in a Pacific View League game Thursday on a muddy field.

“I knew they weren’t that good,” said captain Chris Schwarze of Rio Mesa. “They were last in the league. It wasn’t one of our more exciting games. I kind of got bored playing defense. It wasn’t one of our best games, but we played good enough to win.”

Rio Mesa remained atop the league, a game and a half ahead of Oxnard and Channel Islands with four games left.

The Spartans (11-8-1, 6-1-1 in league play) held Camarillo (4-12-1, 1-7-1) to three shots in the game, none reaching the goal.

Goalkeeper Alfredo Lira of Rio Mesa touched the ball once in the first half, kicking a pass to a defender. Lira didn’t make any saves in the game, but did use his hands twice in the second half to smother crosses by Camarillo forwards.

“They have a big guy in the front and we were just marking them up tight,” Schwarze said. “We closed them down quickly and didn’t let them turn. We were playing tight back there. There were no gaps.”

Rio Mesa’s first goal came in the 19th minute when forward Chris High headed a throw in from Darrel Caldino past goalkeeper Sebastian Fidler of Camarillo.

“That long throw in is one of our dangerous weapons,” High said. “We have so many people that can get up on the headers. We run in from the back and go to the middle. I ran into the middle and hit it in the far corner.”

Rio Mesa made it 2-0 in the 28th minute when Jimmy Heathcote’s cross was tapped by Diran Balekian to a Alonso Medina, who kicked the ball into an open net.

Camarillo pressured Rio Mesa more consistently in the second half, but play still remained in Camarillo’s defensive third. Rio Mesa outshot Camarillo, 17-3, firing nine shots on goal but a combination of bad aim and six saves by Fidler kept the score close.

Rio Mesa travels to Oxnard in a critical game Monday.

“It’s all in our hands,” Coach Brent Kruk of Rio Mesa said. “We hold everything in our possession. We dictate what is going on. We have to want it. It’s a three-team race for one spot.

“I think we need to continue playing good defense and pick things up in the midfield a little bit.”