BOYS’ SOCCER ROUNDUP : Surprising El Dorado Knocks Out Anaheim

In a season chock-full of surprises, the El Dorado High School soccer team came up with the unexpected one more time on Wednesday.

The Hawks, underrated at the start of the season and unheralded throughout, rallied to beat Anaheim, 2-1, in the second round of the Southern Section Division II-A playoffs. It was only the second loss of the season for the Colonists, who were considered one of the favorites to win the II-A title.

“Yeah, we were the underdogs,” said midfielder Kurt Jorgensen, who had a goal and an assist. “Anaheim was ranked all season and we were playing on their field. Of course everyone thought we’d lose.”

The Hawks (15-8-2) were expected to lose a lot this season. With only two returning players from a team that missed the playoffs last year, it looked like another long season for them.

But El Dorado surprised almost everyone--including its coach--by finishing tied for first with Katella in the Empire League.

“With what we had back, I figured finishing third and just getting to the playoffs was a good goal for us,” Coach Gary Imai said. “The kids seem to have had other goals in mind.”

With 27 minutes left, it appeared that the Hawks’ season was coming to an end.

The Colonists (19-2-3) led, 1-0, on a goal by Alex Perez. At that point, the Hawk offense, dormant throughout the first half, came to life.

David Reta broke free down the left side and centered a pass to Jorgensen, whose header caught goalie Rich Reyes leaning the wrong way and tied the score, 1-1. It was Jorgensen’s first goal of the season.

“I was just hanging around and David made a great pass,” Jorgensen said. “Fortunately, I got a head on it.”

From that point, the Hawks controlled the game.

With 10 minutes left, Scott Anderson’s throw-in deflected off Jorgensen’s head and went right to Scott Schalliol, who was in front of the goal. It was also Schalliol’s first goal of the season.

“That’s the type of team we have this season,” Imai said. “We don’t have any stars and we don’t have any egos. That’s why we’ve been so successful.”

Leading, 2-1, the Hawks dropped back and relied on sophomore goalie Blayne Leitner to compensate for any mistakes. He did, making five saves in the final seven minutes.

Leitner twice came out of the net to block shots. He finished with 14 saves.

In other Division II-A games:

Katella 2, Etiwanda 1--Armando Orizaba scored from 35 yards out into the left corner with 11 minutes 20 seconds left to break a 1-1 tie for host Katella (16-3-5). John Peters of Etiwanda (8-5-2) scored seven minutes into the game after Katella had gone seven consecutive games without allowing a goal. Jose Figueroa scored a header on a free kick from Orizaba five minutes into the second half to tie the score. Justin Welham had five saves for Katella.

Ganesha 2, Brea-Olinda 1--Ganesha took a 2-0 lead before Martin Wall scored on a 25-yard free kick for Brea-Olinda (11-8-5) 27 minutes into the second half.