From coaches’ reports
The Christian Learning boys varsity soccer team had a surprisingly easy time getting past Co-operative, 3-1, in a game played on the Eagles’ home field Thursday.
Co-operative got its lone goal in the final seconds of the game. Earlier Josh Mojica, Ricardo Telchi, and Alex Apodaca had scored for Christian Learning.
Co-operative had looked to be the stronger team on paper with its record of two wins against no losses. The Eagles had won a game and lost one against the same opponents.
Thursday’s result put the two teams into a tie for first place with International School.
It’s turning out, as many predicted, that in this league this year on any given Thursday any team can win.
Cambridge is winless, but two of its losses were by slim one-goal margins. It’s widely thought unlikely that the Knights, the defending champions of the league, will have the same record in the second half of the season, which starts next week.
The first half of the game between the Eagles and the Jaguars was indeed an even match. No goals were scored. Though both teams had scoring opportunities, most of the action took place in the middle of the field.
Mojica got the scoring for the Eagles started in the second half on a free kick from just outside the penalty box. Telchi made it 2-0 when he took a well directed pass and launched a shot from at least 30 meters away.
Apodaca added the third Eagle goal when he darted forward on a corner kick and headed the ball into the goal.
As the clock wound down, the large crowd of students and parents had to have in mind the dramatic three-goal comeback Co-operative had engineered in the last ten minutes of its game against International the previous week.
Co-operative did seem to be on the verge of making some breakaways, but until the very end fleet Eagle defender Danny Canaviri was able to win the race against the Jaguar attackers and kick the ball out of danger.
In the last seconds Juan Alfredo Abuawad finally did get away from the Eagle defense to score for the Jaguars and avoid a shutout, but it was too little, too late.
Eduardo Bedoya (No. 9, at left) takes a shot against Cambridge. (Arrow shows ball)
-- Jonathan Munoz, International School
International 3, Cambridge 2
Bedoya's goal gives Griffins a win
By Andre Candia
International School
Eduardo Bedoya scored in the final minutes to give the International varsity boys soccer team a 3-2 win Thursday over Cambridge, which had led for much of the game.
Daniel Baldivieso and Tommy Marcos accounted for the Griffins other goals. Junior Sanchez scored twice for Cambridge, the Knights’ first scores of the season. The game was played at International.
The victory moved the Griffins into a three-way tie with Co-operative and Christian Learning for first place. All have two wins and one loss. Cambridge in winless, but is not expected to remain so, meaning the race for the championship will be very tight.
Cambridge began the scoring with a tremendous free-kick by Sanchez into the topmost part of the goal that left Griffin goalie Mauricio Nostas with no chance to block it.
The score was evened at 1-1 when Baldivieso won a fight for the ball with the defense, and then poked it into the goal.
Sanchez put the Knights ahead again, only to see the score tied by Marcos on a confusing play where the ball bounced around among players until the Griffin forward got it and shot it to goal.
It looked the match would be a tie and go to a shoot-out, but in the last few minutes of the match Eduardo Bedoya scored the goal to give the Griffins the victory with a long shot that the goalkeeper couldn’t hold. It was Bedoya’s third goal of the season, and his second game-winner.
There were penalty cards for each team. For International, which is leading the league in penalties by a wide margin, Rafael Ribeiro and Janivo Schotsig got yellow cards, and Jose Luis Bedoya got a red card. Cambridge was issued one yellow card, which went to Sanchez.
