Boys soccer: Estancia triumphs over Irvine

The Estancia High boys soccer team used a strong start to earn the

edge in a 2-1 nonleague victory over visiting Irvine Monday.

The Eagles (3-4) jumped to a 1-0 lead on a goal from Nikolai

Doudtchenko, who took a shot from the left side of the goalkeeper that

deflected off an Irvine defender into the net. Doudtchenko leads the

Eagles in goals.

Estancia stayed hot in the first half, taking a 2-0 lead on a goal

from Eli Navarrete 29 minutes into the game. Navarrete took a shot on a

direct kick from 25 yards out for the goal.

Irvine did not threaten until late in the second half, when Emanuel

Briones got the ball past Estancia’s goalkeeper.

Although Estancia pulled out a win, Eagles’ Coach Steve Crenshaw said

his team is still young and has some things to work on.

“It was nice to get a win, but I would still like to see us play

better,” Crenshaw said. “We just played better than them. We still didn’t

play that great of a game. We are not really sharp at this point, but we

were sharper than them.”

Giovanni Gonzalez made seven saves for Estancia while Irvine’s Daniel

Gomez made 10.

“(Gonzalez) didn’t get pressed too many times and the saves were a

couple times semi-close, but he did not necessarily have to make

spectacular saves,” Crenshaw said. “I don’t know that (Gonzalez) was

challenged all that much in this game. Today, the saves were a little

more routine.”

Estancia did outshot the Vaqueros, 24-12. The Eagles host Fountain

Valley Wednesday at 3 p.m.