Laguna settles for tie
Playing their first game in more than two weeks, the Laguna Beach High boys’ soccer team traveled Monday to Garden Grove to take on Santiago, and battled the host Cavaliers to a 1-1 tie.
Cole Calabrese scored off an assist from Charlie Warner in the opening half to give the Breakers a 1-0 halftime advantage on Santiago, the top-ranked team and defending champion in CIF Southern Section Division 5.
Laguna was playing its first game since Dec. 18. Monday’s matchup turned out to be the final nonleague contest for the Breakers: their scheduled home game Wednesday against Saddleback Valley Christian, their final tuneup before the start of Orange Coast League play, was canceled due to heavy rains.
The Breakers are 2-1-4 overall heading into league.
“Considering we were coming off a two-week winter period with no matches, this was a good result against yet another highly regarded team on the road,” Richards said. “You can see why Santiago is currently ranked No. 1 for their division.
“Cole’s goal was taken excellently from a very tough angle after a good combination play with Charlie. The overall performance had some ups and downs with us looking good in spells linking up in the midfield and out wide, but then also had times when it got very scrappy and you could tell we hadn’t played together regularly in a competitive game for a while.”
The Laguna program held its annual varsity game Saturday at Guyer Field. The alumni team scored a 5-0 victory over the current varsity team. Scoring goals were alumni players Jacob Kunkel (Class of 2014), Reece Barton (Class of 2013), Edgar Rabadan (Class of 2009), Jason Kimball (Class of 2004), and Joe Rousseau (Class of 2012).
Other alumni participating in the match Saturday, with Greg Anderson, Ben Murray and Gary Bechtel serving as referees, were: Mike Reyes (2006), Johnny Vasquez (2008), Tim Fulton (2009), Christian Alberran (2011), Miguel Jaimes (2012), Michael Kimball (2012), Davis Matthews (2012), Paolo Noppenberger (2012), Miles Shirley (2012), Jackson Yamasaki (2012), Reed Matthews (2013), Bryce Williamson (2013), Nathaniel Colburn (2014), Chris Tellez (2014), Rory Saunders (2015), Harrison Gregory (2015), and Willy Wheeler (2015).
The Breakers begin their Orange Coast League schedule Friday and play a 5 p.m. game at Centennial Park in Santa Ana against defending league champion Godinez. They also are on the road next Wednesday for a 5 p.m. game against Costa Mesa at Estancia High.
“As we build up to the league opener this Friday, the team is confident it can do well and has shown in our nonleague schedule it can compete with anyone,” Richards said. “We have a strong back line and will be hard to break down, always knowing we can hurt our opponents with quick play going the other way,
“Starting with Godinez away from home is as tough as it gets. They are always a great team and play some really nice soccer. It’ll be a great challenge for the boys and a good gauge of what we are in store for this season in league.”
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Girls’ Soccer
An annual trip to the desert area over winter break once again completed the nonleague schedule for the Breakers. They played three morning games last week and won each of those matches, two by shutout.
Their three-game journey began with a Dec. 28 game at Palm Desert Xavier Prep. The Breakers shut down the Saints, 5-0, getting two goals from freshman forward Blake Turner and one each from sophomore defender Alden Kramer, senior defender Shea Skenderian and senior forward Maddy Kristensen.
In their second game at Rancho Mirage, Turner and junior forward Greer Jacobs scored in a 2-0 win over the Rattlers. The Breakers closed out their trip Dec. 30 in Indio and gave up their only goal in three games but still defeated Shadow Hills, 2-1. Goals were scored by Kramer and Kristensen.
“It was a very successful trip to the desert,” Laguna Coach Bill Rolfing said. “The Xavier match was a well-played, ground-passing game with many scoring opportunities. We dictated the play and used the second half to refine our attacking style. The Rancho Mirage match was much more challenging with the Rattlers playing a physical-style game. The early goal (Turner) was critical for confidence, but the insurance goal (Jacobs) was late in the match leading to many anxious moments for the defense. In the end, [we] dominated again with a smart passing-style offense.”
