NHB advances in League Cup play

The NHB Black boys Under-10 soccer team opened the Coast Soccer

League Cup Championships with a pair of weekend victories at Mabel Paine

Elementary School in Yorba Linda.

The Black brought an overall record of 29-3 into the tournament, where

they opened play with a resounding 6-0 victory over OJSC of Orange, the

second-place finisher out of the CSL Bronze Division.

NHB, which won the Silver South Division, jumped on OJSC right from the

start as Christian Ramirez scored off a corner kick by Bobby Tornel just

55 seconds into the match.

Abraham Villon followed with a solo shot, then Ramirez scored off an

assist from Esteban Orejel for a 3-0 lead. Later in the half, Orejel got

into the scoring column, and Ramirez added his third goal of the opening

half as NHB stormed to a 5-0 lead at the break.

Tornel added a second half goal to close out the scoring, and the Black

defense held OJSC to just two shots on goal in the contest.

Sunday’s second round match was a bit tougher, as NHB pulled out a 5-3

victory over Long Beach United’s Force. The game was a rematch between

two teams who met earlier in the year in the semifinal round of the Long

Beach International Tournament, which NHB also won by a 5-3 count.

Ramirez opened the scoring with a goal off a Orejel assist at the 6:38

mark of the first half and after Long Beach knotted the score at 1-1,

Villon scored at the 13-minute mark to put NHB on top, 2-1.

A Ramirez goal off a Villon feed gave the Black a 3-1 halftime lead, but

the Force, who won the Bronze Division title, battled back to score two

goals within the opening 10 minutes of the second half to tie the score

again. The teams traded near-miss shots in a well-played, physical match

that remained scoreless until the four-minute mark, when Tornel scored

what turned out to be the game-winning goal. Villon added an insurance

goal two minutes later to advance NHB (31-3) into Saturday’s third round

against JUSA Select Blue at Mabel Paine Elementary School.