Pilot Cup soccer: Rea rolls to repeat title

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Rea fifth- and sixth-grade boys soccer coach Todd

Deutsch said his 2001 Pilot Cup champion was a better team. But it would

be hard to argue last year’s version was any more dominant than the squad

that rolled to a second straight crown with two lopsided victories

Saturday at the Farm Field.

The Sharks, whom Deutsch said relied as much on teamwork as talent,

defeated Lincoln, 6-0, in the title game. Rea also trounced Harbor Day

(Scott), 7-0, in the morning semifinal, eventually walking off with

first-place medals, the perpetual cup trophy and the respect and

admiration of all who walked into the goal-feeding frenzy.

“Our guys were good, but their guys were very good,” Lincoln Coach Jon

Kottke said of the Sharks. “Believe it or not, our defense had been very

strong throughout the tournament. Our 1-0 semifinal win was our fourth

straight shutout. But we didn’t seem to slow (Rea) down much.”

Speed, precision passing and finishing skills good enough to impress

most high school coaches, all came to bear for Rea, which received four

goals from sixth-grader Eric Duarte, who scored six goals in the

tournament opener and haunted defenders and goalkeepers for the duration

of the five-day event.

“We had a club kid and another strong player both assigned to mark

(Duarte),” Kottke said. “But he beat them both twice.”

Eduardo Pinon, nicknamed “Lalo,” scored the first goal on what would

become a familiar pattern. Pinon outran defenders to chase down a through

ball in the middle of the field, drifted to the right and fired a

crossing strike into the far left corner of the net in the sixth minute.

Duarte finished on virtually the same sequence to make it 2-0 in the

20th minute.

Duarte, nicknamed “Pollo” (the Spanish word for chicken), scored again

five minutes later on a artful direct kick just outside the 18-yard box,

an opportunity created when he was bumped by a defender and fell hard

while attacking the left flank. Duarte, mildly shaken up on the play,

eventually got to his feet and addressed the ball 10 yards in front of a

player wall guarding the left side of the Lincoln net. He deftly lofted

the ball over the wall and into the upper left corner, giving the

goalkeeper no chance on the play.

Duarte scored his third 20 minutes into the second 30-minute half,

then added a fourth goal, before teammate Jason Salinas completed the

scoring.

Rea’s other tournament victories came by scores of 6-0, 5-0 and 10-0,

as well as a 3-2 quarterfinal triumph over TeWinkle (Tasb), in which the

Sharks rallied from a 2-0 deficit.

“After (TeWinkle) scored on its first two shots, I think our guys got

a little angry,” Deutsch said. “I don’t think this team was as talented

as last year’s, but when these kids got on the field, they were all

business.”

Deutsch also credited the defensive work of Leonel Garcia, like

Duarte, Pinon and Jose Quinones, a returning starter from 2001.

“Garcia was always in the right spot and I’ve never coached a smarter

player than Quinones (who took all the Sharks’ corner kicks),” said

Deutsch, who was assisted by Kurt Suhr.

Victor Bonilla, George Olivas, Eric Guevera, Edgar Vega, Oscar

Hernandez, Chris Medina, Brian Lopez, Geovanni Vasquez, Jesus Garcia,

Sergio Cervantes, Reyna Martinez and water boy Victor Perdomo also

contributed to Rea’s title.

Kottke praised the work of team scoring leader Mitchell Williams, who

netted the only goal in the semifinal, center fullback Erik Rask, goalie

Kevin Rask, Bret Weinberger, Kevin Kottke, Johnny Heard and Nick Taylor,

as well as midfielder Morgan Brombal.

Jordan Goulding, Jacob Goulding, Carl Waniek, Paolo Iaccorini, Reed

Zachman and Michael Bloom also contributed for the runners-up, for whom

Robert Weinberger was an assistant coach.