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Laguna Hills Stops No. 5 Woodbridge

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Laguna Hills used an early goal by David Miller and the solid goalkeeping of Eric Reed to beat fifth-ranked Woodbridge, 1-0, in a rain-soaked Sea View League opener Wednesday at Laguna Hills.

The Hawks (9-3-4, 1-0) took the lead in the ninth minute after Miller controlled the ball following a throw-in, slipped by a Woodbridge defender and blasted a left-footed shot from just outside the goal box, beating goalkeeper Adam Hahn to the upper left corner.

“It was a laser shot,” Laguna Hills Coach Scott Johnson said.

Woodbridge soon regrouped and had its best chance to tie the game in the 28th minute when the Warriors’ Branden Novoa was pulled down in the goal box by Hawk halfback James Dwyer. But Reed made a spectacular diving save to his left side on Jason Del Valle’s penalty kick.

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“It gave us a big lift,” Reed said. “Everyone seemed to feed off it, but even if it did go in, I think we could have come back anyway. Our team played great today.”

Laguna Hills received a blow early in the second half when Matt Chandler was given a red card, leaving the Hawks one player short for the final 26 minutes.

“After that red card, we were able to hunker down,” Johnson said. “[Reed has] got real steady hands and he’s such a vocal leader, he really kept his composure out there.”

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Woodbridge (13-3-2, 0-1) was without six players who were suspended for breaking a team rule. Five of them were starters, including Pieter Berger, the team’s leading goal scorer, and Roy Chingarian, the team’s assist leader.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but the rules are the rules.” Woodbridge Coach Jon Szczuka said. “The guys we had out there played hard and gave us chances to win. We just have to use this as a motivational tool and go out there and regroup.”

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