Rebels stumble in road setback

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan

Pasadena Poly’s dominance in the Prep League is still in tact.

And the last team that won the league boys’ soccer title --

Flintridge Prep -- is, for the time being, still second best.

The Panthers all but assured themselves their fifth consecutive

league championship with a 4-0 thumping of the Rebels on Tuesday at

Pasadena Poly’s Babcock Field.

*--*

BOX SCORE

*--*

*--*

Flintridge Prep 0 0 -- 0

Pasadena Poly 3 1 -- 4

*--*

*--*

FLINTRIDGE PREP

None. * Saves: Maher 4. * Cards: Li (yellow, 42nd minute).

PASADENA POLY

Holman (McCurry, 3rd minute), Gaffney (Holman, 13th minute), Tiari (Gaffney, 29th minute), Holman (Gaffney, 53rd minute). * Saves: Wagener 4. * Cards: Sachs (yellow, 16th minute).

*--*

“We just don’t play well here,” said Flintridge Prep Coach Stephen

Oderkirk, whose program won the league title in 1998-99. “[But] they

are not four goals better than us.

“It seems like every year Poly wants it more than we do. I don’t

know what to do to change our luck.”

Flintridge Prep (8-9-2, 2-1-2 in league) -- which will play

Claremont Webb at 2:30 p.m. Friday at home in its regular-season

finale with a playoff berth on the line -- didn’t do much of anything

against the Panthers.

Pasadena Poly (9-8-2, 3-0-1) -- which has not lost a league match

in Coach Doug Jolly’s four-year tenure -- cleanly moved the ball, had

plenty of room to maneuver and benefited from countless Rebel

mistakes to build a 3-0 halftime lead.

John Holman (third minute), Jordie Gaffney (13th minute) and Logan

Tiari (29th minute) all scored for the Panthers, who play the

league’s last-place team, Rancho Palos Verdes Chadwick, in their

final two contests, needing just one win to clinch the title.

Holman -- who assisted on Gaffney’s score -- added another goal in

the 53rd minute to finish the scoring.

“The guys just stepped up,” said Jolly, whose team -- which

received strong contributions from defenders John Clark, Nick Cotton,

A.J. Lembke and Nick Regas -- played host Flintridge Prep to a 2-2

tie Jan. 9. “We have a group of guys who work, work and work for each

other. We got guys contributing well.

“This is really a team. That’s where our success has come from all

year.”

Shortly after the match, Oderkirk knew his squad had to put the

lopsided loss behind it.

“If we beat Webb, we’re in the playoffs,” he said. “We have to put

this behind us and move on.”