Marina’s surprise run ends

Mike Sciacca

It was only four short years ago that Marina High was barely a small

blip on the boys’ prep soccer map.

Victories were hard to come by during some lean years the program

endured during the late 1990s, making it tough to even detect the

program on the radar.

But, with the arrival of the class of 2003, that program was about

to gain a strong pulse and grow in stature.

The climb from obscurity culminated last Saturday with the

school’s first-ever appearance in a CIF championship match. And,

although the end result was not what the Vikings had hoped for,

Marina was edged by undefeated Long Beach Wilson, 3-2, the experience

left a lasting impression.

“Sure, I would have loved to have won the game, but the one thing

that stands out to me, through all of this, is where we had ended

up,” said senior center/mid-fielder J.T. Searles. “When I first came

here as a freshman, Marina’s reputation for boys’ soccer wasn’t the

best.”

Searles, who is headed to Cal Berkley in the fall, and fellow

senior Anthony Ordonez, a sweeper, both are four-year varsity

players. Along with senior Josh Valerio, the trio forms a core group

that has been the drive behind Marina’s current success.

When the three were sophomores, Marina just missed making a return

to the playoffs.

Last year, the Vikings not only returned to the postseason picture

for the first time since 1994, but reached the second round of the

Division II playoffs.

This year, in their return to Division I, they took the season to

the limit.

“All season long, Anthony Ordonez, J.T. Searles and Josh Valerio

carried us and were strong leaders for the rest of the team,” Marina

coach Jeff Schofield said. “They even stepped it up a notch in the

playoffs. The first four games of the CIF playoffs they helped lead

the team in only giving up one goal and provided all of our scoring

in those games.”

Marina’s run to the Division I title match included victories over

Long Beach Millikan (1-0), Quartz Hills (3-0), Damien (3-1), and a

stunning, 1-0 semifinal victory over top-ranked Santa Margarita.

Searles led the Vikings (18-8-2) in those four victories with

three goals, Ordonez scored twice and Valerio scored once.

In the championship final, Searles suffered a hamstring injury

about 10 minutes into the match and did not return.

Ordonez, meanwhile, was ejected on a red card late in the match as

Wilson (26-0-5) went on to win the school’s first boys’ soccer title.

But several other Marina players picked up the slack and goals by

Noe Osorio and Manny Bermudez kept the Vikings close throughout the

match.

Osorio’s goal came early in the second half and tied the score at

1-1; Bermudez’s goal brought Marina to within 3-2 late in the match.

Goalkeeper Keith Heyward, who had seven saves in the final, also

was outstanding during postseason play.

“I felt we played with a lot of heart and intensity,” Schofield

said. “Wilson did a good job of disrupting our attack with their

relentless defense. Losing J.T. to a hamstring injury was obviously a

big blow to our attack. We were forced to juggle our lineup as well

as having lost a player (Ordonez) who normally plays 80 minutes. But,

the team never gave up and fought hard to even the score.”

The fact that Marina reached the title game surprised even

Searles, who said the team seemed to “turn things around” after it

had dropped its first two Sunset League matches.

The Vikings rebounded to finish in second place behind champion

Esperanza.

“I’m very proud of what this team accomplished,” Schofield said.

“Regardless of the quality of your team it is always difficult to

reach the championship game. These guys really stepped it up when it

counted and seemed to play their best in the most important games.

“This is a very special group of players. These seniors lost only

one game as freshmen and we knew for that point that they had the

ability to accomplish great things.”

BOYS SOCCER

DIVISION I -- LONG BEACH WILSON 3, MARINA 2

Wilson (26-0-5) won its first title ever by defeating Marina

(18-8-2), who was appearing in their first-ever title game.