SOCCER ROUNDUP : This Tie Leaves Brea Feeling Good

The Brea-Olinda High School boys’ soccer players whooped and yelled and cheered after a tie game Wednesday. For them, it was another step toward another Orange League championship.

The Wildcats celebrated their 2-2 tie at Anaheim, which kept them tied for first place with three games remaining.

Brea is tied for first with Valencia, which it plays next Wednesday. Anaheim is third, one point behind.

League championships are nothing new for the Wildcats, who have won six of the past seven. But after a disastrous nonleague showing, during which they won only two games, many thought their dominance had come to an end.

That was before Brea-Olinda beat Anaheim, 1-0, in the first round of league play. That remains the Colonists only loss this season.

“Everybody kept saying we upset Anaheim,” Wildcat Coach Manny Toledo said. “That offended us. We have been the dominant team in this league for a long time. It was no upset.”

The Colonists (15-1-4, 4-1-2), ranked fourth in the county, started slowly Wednesday, then took control and led, 2-1, late in the game.

However, the Wildcats (7-7-4, 5-1-1) pulled even with seven minutes left on an alert play by Martin Wall.

Brea-Olinda’s Sergio Ponce was double-teamed in front of the goal, but managed to tip the ball free. Wall picked up the pass and beat goalie Joe Torres to his left.

It was the second goal of the game for Wall, who is the son of former professional soccer player Peter Wall. Less than 10 minutes into the game, he took an inbound pass and lined a shot past Torres from 40 yards out.

Wall has 10 goals this season, eight in the past seven games. He has all but three of the Wildcats’ goals in league play.

Mike Tsarnas and Jaime Garcia had goals for Anaheim. Tsarnas has 25 goals on the season.