Eagles rally past CdM
Whenever the Estancia High boys’ soccer team plays host to Corona del Mar, there always seems to be a glitch.
Two seasons ago, the lights at Jim Scott Stadium went out at halftime of the nonleague contest. The lights almost had to be turned off before their matchup on Wednesday.
Only Estancia showed up to the field to warm up an hour before the match. The Sea Kings weren’t around. Something was obviously wrong, prompting Estancia Coach Robert Castellano to check on CdM. A half hour prior to the start, Castellano contacted CdM Coach George Larsen to ask about his team’s whereabouts. Larsen didn’t pick up his cell phone, but the Sea Kings were en route to Estancia.
The Sea Kings thought the match began at 6:30, not 5. They arrived at Estancia close to the scheduled start time, and 90 minutes later the Sea Kings and Eagles finally played.
The delay seemed to affect Estancia and benefit CdM in the first half. The Eagles adjusted in the second half, making sure they didn’t lose to CdM for the first time in four seasons.
At the end, the matchup was nothing like the previous two ties between the two programs. Chris Moya and Kevin Pizarro each scored in the second half, rallying Estancia to a 2-1 win.
Moya tied the match with a goal 5 minutes into the second half, while Pizarro won it for the Eagles with a goal with 5 minutes left. Moya and Pizarro also overcame knee problems to lift Estancia (5-1-0) to its second win against a Newport-Mesa Unified School District program in a week.
Newport Harbor is the other local school the Eagles beat. The last time the Eagles swept the Back Bay schools, CdM and Newport Harbor, in the same season was in 2008-09.
Newport Harbor was also the opponent that Moya injured his right knee against, and Pizarro hurt his left knee against CdM. They said their knees felt pretty good after coming back against the Sea Kings (2-2-1).
“I just needed to play for my team,” Pizarro said. “My team does everything for me, so I had to repay them.”
Pizarro, a junior striker, prevented CdM from coming away with a tie. The Sea Kings would have taken it against Estancia, a CIF Southern Section Division 5 semifinalist from last season, as Larsen said his team played without three standouts, Alex Rihm (flue), Blake Munger (concussion) and Jack Tomei (calf).
Pizarro toughed it out all evening, even though he said he felt a sharp pain in his left knee midway through the first half. The athletic trainer had to help Pizarro off the field. He returned, only to go down again right before halftime.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Pizarro, with his knee wrapped up, gave it another go. The Eagles had evened the match 10 minutes earlier on Moya’s goal. Salvador Escalante’s cross made it over to Moya, who used some nifty footwork deep in the box, before beating goalkeeper Gavin Allen with his left foot in the 45th minute.
Allen was in a precarious spot, with Moya attacking from the right side. Estancia’s keeper, Jaime Pedrazda, who finished with five saves, found himself in a more vulnerable situation in the first half.
The Sea Kings earned a penalty kick on a handball inside the box by Estancia’s Luis Millan. The freshman’s mistake gave Leo Alves a chance to put CdM up, 1-0. Alves delivered, converting the PK in the 30th minute.
The rest of the way, the Eagles, who open with Savanna in the North Orange County Classic at Jim Scott Stadium on Saturday at 12:15 p.m., dominated play, creating more scoring chances. Moya, a junior, put away his opportunity early in the second half, and Pizarro came through late, capitalizing on a defensive miscue near the top of the box. Pizarro dribbled in and found himself in a one-on-one situation with the keeper, and he used his right foot to produce the game-winning goal in the 75th minute.
“[The Eagles] were persistent,” said Larsen, whose team looks to regroup on Friday, when it plays at Mater Dei at 5 p.m. “Obviously it was a mistake there on a pass back to the goalie that ultimately did us in. We did a little too much of that tonight, and if you’re going to make that many mistakes, you’re going to get popped. We deserved it. Credit to them. I thought they upped their intensity and played a better second half. [They] took it to us.”