Boys soccer: Sailors win wild card

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - Newport Harbor High boys soccer player Trey Meek was a

rain puddle away from back-to-back hat tricks.

Instead, he settled for two goals and an assist as the Sailors defeated

Anaheim, 5-1, in CIF Southern Section Division II Wild Card action

Wednesday.

Meek, who scored three goals in the Sailors’ win over Aliso Niguel on

Friday, has nine goals for the season and five in the past two games.

“We’ve definitely awaken a sleeping giant, that’s for sure,” Coach Matt

West said about the junior. “We’ve put him in numerous scoring chances

and he’s really taken advantage of those opportunities.”

Already with two goals, Meek snuck a shot past Anaheim goalie Jose Nava,

but the ball was slowed by a puddle right in front of the goal. Riley

Madigan slammed the ball into the open net for the goal.

“Riley does a lot of little things out there that sometimes go

unnoticed,” West said. “He’s the workhorse who does the little things

that make our offense successful.”

With the win, Newport (8-7-5) will travel to El Dorado (25-4) to face the

high-powered Golden Hawks and their offensive weapon, Ignacio Sid.

“He’s got 34 goals this season and not many were by accident,” West said

with a cautious smile. “They’re a very explosive offensive team. I

compare them to playing against Estancia’s style of offense.”

No spider webs were safe in the goals as the Sailors hit corner after

corner against the Colonists (7-11-4).

Meek started it off with a shot into the upper-right corner of the goal

off a free kick in the sixth minute.

Sixteen minutes later, Meek took a head pass from sophomore Kevin Campos

and slid a shot into the lower-left corner, giving the Sailors a 2-0

lead.

“We wanted to raise our level of play, regardless of who we’re playing,”

West said. “It’s playoff time and we have to continue to rise to the

occasion.”

Just before the end of the first half, sophomore Andy Newsom picked the

upper-right corner off an assist from Justin Newton for a commanding 3-0

Sailors’ lead.

Anaheim got on the board in the 51st minute courtesy of an own goal by

the Sailors, cutting the lead to 3-1.

Madigan’s puddle-assisted goal from Meek stretched the Sailors’ lead to

4-1 in the 62nd minute. Goalie Duke Burchell started the play with a

field-length outlet pass to Meek.

“It starts with Duke,” West said. “He’s gotten numerous offensive

opportunities started throughout the season.”

Junior Scott Dean concluded the scoring in the 73rd minute when his shot

was slowed by the Anaheim goalie, but still managed to trickle into the

net.

It was the first playoff win for the Sailors since 1997. Friday’s game

against El Dorado is set for 3:15 p.m.

The Golden Hawks have recorded 15 shutouts this season while outscoring

the opposition, 105-24. They are the No. 2 seed in Division II.