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| TANGLED TALE -- Griffin Francisco Gonzales' attempted shot on goal is foiled by Jaguar Esteban Sauto (19). Jonatan Muñoz, International. |
Jaguars edge Griffins in squeaker, 1-0
The Cooperative boys varsity soccer continued its unbeaten streak but was sorely tested by an upset-minded International team.
The final score was 1-0 Jaguars in a game played on the International field in which defense dominated. The winning margin came when Jaguar Jose Manuel Vasquez headed home a free kick late in the first half to account for all of the scoring in the game.
As a result of the win the Jaguars now hold undisputed title to first place in the League standings, but the Griffins have clearly established that they are a team to be reckoned with, and will be looking for another shot at spoiling the Jaguars season in the playoffs.(To do so, however, they will have to beat Cambridge, who tied the Griffins in their first meeting.) The Jaguars and Griffins also tied in their first meeting, 0-0.
The remarkable thing about the game was that even though the two teams played with great intensity, and have both shown that they can score goals this year, there were only a few other close calls on scoring attempts until the last ten seconds of the game when International hit the Cooperative goal twice -- once by Santiago Rosado, and then again by Gary Suarez a split-second later -- with a final try by Mauricio Nostas sailing high just before the final whistle blew.
This is not to say there wasn't plenty of action. Both goalies were involved in crunching collisions, but in both instances the goalies had possession of the ball. Otherwise scoring possibilities seemed to crop up from time to time at both ends of the field, only to be quickly snuffed out by the defenses. It was as if neither team could get its offensive artillery unlimbered.
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| HIGH AND LOW -- High-flying Knight and Eagle Richard Ling (4) joust for control -- Katarina Holland, Christian Learning |
Knights edge Eagles in squeaker, 1-0
On a beautiful evening for soccer, with a cool, light wind from the south and no rain, The Cambridge boys varsity soccer team got by Christian Learning 1-0 in a match as close as the first one between the two teams, just minus the scoring frenzy. Cambridge won the first game 4-3. __________
GET THE BALL -- Eagle Caleb Ropp (23) charges past Knight Matias Martinez (8)
The outcome of the Cambridge Christian Learning and International-Cooperative games appeared to lock in the pairings for the first round of the playoffs. Christian Learning will take on Cooperative, the first-place team; Cambridge will tangle with International, who it will also play to close out the season next week. (Those two reams tied 2-2 in their previous meeting.)
Cambridge goalie Jose Luis Ribera, returning to that position Thursday for the first time since his heroic exploits in the nets in last year's playoffs, certainly helped the Knights' cause, as he saved a couple of tough shots to preserve the shutout victory.
The game was pretty even throughout, with each side holding the momentum for a while and then yielding it back to the other side. Cambridge scored the only goal relatively early in the contest on a nicely calibrated free kick by Federico Rocca from just outside the goal area on the right side. It hooked down over Eagle keeper Wesley Ordoñez and went into the far corner.
No one at the time figured it to be the only goal of the contest, but Ribera made it hold up. The highlight reel included one shot by Caleb Ropp that found itself lodged about 6 meters up a tree behind the south end goal; a Cambridge cross that eluded all 4 players that tried to get a head or foot on it (two from each side).
Ribera snagged the apparent equalizer when a cross by Luis Doi was headed into the goal by Trevor Reed about mid-way through the second half. (The rebound from that save also looked like a sure goal, but was shanked by a charging Eagle and never got to the goal line, so no harm done.)
The action at the close was end-to-end, and pretty intense, but Ribera managed to hold the Eagles scoreless, despite a flurry of late shots. The Eagles head home with yet another tough loss even after a revamped lineup designed to produce more offense.
(Keith Wilcke of Christian Learning provided this report.)
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| THE MIDDLE WAY -- Luis Doi (10) tries to find an opening between two Cambridge defenders. Katarina Holland, Christian Learning |
