Sylmar Comes a Long Way but Falls Short in Final

Sylmar High’s boys lacked direction through the first month of the season and might still have had trouble focusing if not for a major injury that brought the soccer team together.

Erick Lopez, a starting defender and team captain, was carted off on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance after breaking a leg against Hawthorne on Dec. 28 in the Harbor Cup.

The injury inspired the Spartans to turn their season around.

“He’s the kind of guy that even though he had to miss a few practices to work to help his parents financially, he would come back and take charge,” said Sylmar Coach Emanuel Martins.

“Basically, he’s not the kind of guy who goes with the flow. He knows what needs to be done and he makes sure everyone does it.”

With Lopez cheering from the sideline, the Spartans advanced to a tournament final for the first time in school history but lost to University, 6-1, in the championship game of the Sylmar tournament on Saturday night in Sylmar.

The Spartans (6-5-3) took a 1-0 lead on a goal by forward Victor Cisneros in the ninth minute, but University’s talented offense controlled most of the game.

Juan Andrade tied the score for the Wildcats (12-3-1) in the 20th minute and University took the lead on Sam Haber’s goal seven minutes later.

Farzad Rahmani’s goal extended the lead to 3-1 in the 31st minute.

Daniel Domenzain scored two second-half goals.

Reseda 2, Birmingham 1--Freddy Ayala had a goal and an assist to help the Regents (14-3-1) take third in the Sylmar tournament.

Francisco Flores scored for the Patriots (4-6-1).