Boys soccer: Tars come way back to tie Woodbridge

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - A missed opportunity that most likely would have

drove the final nail in the coffin of Newport Harbor High’s boys soccer

team, gave the Sailors just enough life to pull out a 3-3 Sea View League

tie over Woodbridge Friday afternoon.

Already down, 3-1, to the Warriors, a missed Woodbridge penalty kick

seconds before the first half gave the Sailors a ray of hope, which they

took full advantage.

Two quick goals in the second half by sophomore Tyson Wahl and junior

Riley Madigan pulled Newport even.

The tie kept the Sailors (5-5-3, 1-0-2 in league) in first place in the

Sea View.

“We just have a blue-collar attitude out there,” Coach Matty West said.

“Our work ethic is second to none and we just never quit. This was a big

boost for our program.”

For Woodbridge, ranked No. 10 in CIF Southern Section Division II and No.

6 in Orange County, it was a matter of not putting Newport away when the

chance was presented.

“After that penalty kick missed, I told the guys at halftime to build on

that momentum,” West said. “It was a great effort from our entire team.”

Woodbridge (10-3-4, 1-0-1) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals by

Peter Borger in the 12th minute and Ryan Orosz in the 14th minute.

It was nearly, 3-0, but a Woodbridge player sent a point-blank shot just

wide.

Newport responded with a goal by Madigan, his first of two goals, with an

assist by junior Tyler Simmons in the 22nd minute, cutting the lead in

half.

Sailors goalie Duke Burchell, who had five saves for the game, was called

for handling a ball outside the box, resulting in a free kick for the

Warriors.

Before Newport could set up their wall of defenders, Roy Chingarean

ripped a shot by the stunned Sailors, extending the Warriors’ lead to

3-1.

“I think our guys were expecting Roy to ask for 10 yards,” West said.

“Instead of being right in front of the ball, Roy had an opening and he

ripped a great shot in the goal.”

After a Newport player was charged with a foul inside the goal box,

Woodbridge was awarded a penalty kick, but the shot went just to the

right of the goal post as the first half came to an end.

“What a difference that would have made,” West said. “Even though we were

down, 3-1, I thought we were still in it.”

Wahl’s goal came in the 44th minute off an indirect kick from a Ryan

Hernandez touch pass.

Just two minutes later, junior Juan Gonzalez streaked down the right side

of the field and fed a pass over to Madigan, who buried the shot into the

upper-right corner of the goal, tying the game.

“Juan was our intangible,” West said. “He was a factor on defense and he

does a great job of putting himself in the right positions to be

successful.”

Both teams had a couple of opportunities to break the tie, but were

unsuccessful.

“We definitely were trying to win,” West said. “We weren’t happy with the

tie. We wanted to keep taking it to them.”

Next up for the Sailors is a nonleague road battle with the explosive

Estancia Eagles on Wednesday, before resuming league play against Aliso

Niguel on Friday at Aliso. Both games are at 3:15 p.m.