Boys Youth Soccer: A well-deserved break

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - With their sights set on Easter Vacation, players from

the Costa Mesa AYSO select boys under-12 team turned in their best

performance of the season in a 5-1 victory over the Tustin Inferno,

Saturday at the Costa Mesa Farm Field.

The Costa Mesa’s players’ reward? Coach Sal Burciaga canceled

practices during their week off from school.

Burciaga, perhaps, deserves a vacation as well. His strategy was a big

reason for the outcome.

He moved his nephew, Marco Burciaga who usually plays goalie, from the

net to a forward. Marco Burciaga scored a hat trick in the first half as

Costa Mesa’s select team, of Region 120, fought off a 1-0 deficit and

possessed the momentum throughout the second half. German Higareda scored

two goals of his own to help Costa Mesa.

“We had some great defense today,” said Sal Burciaga, who also noted

Tustin had beaten his team 2-1 during the regular season (this is now the

select season). “I promised Marco he would be able to play forward, so

he helped out a lot.”

Five minutes in, the Inferno, of Region 96, began to threaten with

several strikes. Tustin’s Josh Sanchez led a nice pass to Alex Emerson on

a breakaway, but Costa Mesa’s Eric West ended the threat with his steal.

Michael Mejia also stopped Tustin on another scoring opportunity.

The Inferno, however, earned a 1-0 lead when Noe Rubio caught Costa

Mesa off guard, immediately after Mejia sent the ball out of bounds.

But less than two minutes later, Marco Burciaga scored his first of

three goals as he finished successfully on a breakaway.

The second quarter began with the same scenario as he gave Costa Mesa

its first lead of the game. With 10 minutes remaining in the half, Sal

Burciaga Jr. set up Higareda for his first goal, which prompted Higareda

to break out his bodybuilder pose, in celebration of his score.

Costa Mesa obviously had the momentum and continued to unleash its

attack as Marco Burciaga slid and stretched in front of Tustin’s goal,

blasting the ball into the net for his hat trick.

Costa Mesa’s select squad nearly scored again before the half ended as

its players fired three more shots.

Higareda had another opportunity to give the fans his bodybuilder pose

when he beat Tustin’s goalie to a ball and booted it into the empty net

to close out the scoring.

Marco Burciaga did not play the third quarter, yet his teammates

increased the defensive intensity. Danny Alderette, who played goalie,

finished with five saves.

When Marco Burciaga returned in the final quarter he almost scored

again. Costa Mesa’s Jaybenny Quiroz sent his corner kick directly in

front of Tustin’s net and Marco Burciaga headed the ball that danced on

top of the crossbar.

The Inferno’s goalies, David Longacre, Michael Clenshaw and Andy Tran,

combined to turn back 12 Costa Mesa shots.

Boys under-12

The Costa Mesa Select

Region 120

12 Danny Alderette

36 Rodrigo Bottazzi

34 Avan Bueno

32 Marco Burciaga

28 Sal Burciaga Jr.

25 Matthew Grella

10 German Higareda

37 Andy Mahle

16 Michael Mejia 11 Jaybenny Quiroz

18 Danny Reeker

35 Alex Villalba

15 Eric West

Coach: Sal Burciaga

The Tustin Inferno

Region 96

2 Andy Tran

3 Addison French

4 C.J. Obioha

6 Josh Sanchez

7 David Longacre

11 Alex Emerson

12 Roly Guerra

13 Noe Rubio

14 Travis Kruse

15 Victor Espinoza

16 Mike Clenshaw 17 Gavin Greiwe

18 Jonathan Epstein

19 Eric Thomas

Coaches: Roland Guerra and Antonio Espinoza