Team nets second in pool play

The Laguna Beach Soccer Club’s boys’ Under-10 Division won three of

four matches in pool play at the Orange Coast United Invitational

tournament.

The three victories gave Laguna second-place in its pool.

Laguna opened tournament play with a 1-0 win over Canyon PSA.

Following a 2-0 loss to Valley, Laguna bounced back to rout the Hot

Spurs of San Diego, 7-0 and defeat Long Beach United, 3-1.

Laguna 1, Canyon PSA 0

Laguna found itself in a defensive struggle in its opener.

In the first half, eight-year-old Mathew Finkelstein ended a

scoreless game when he took the ball at midfield, worked his way past

several defenders and put the ball into the net from just outside the

box.

Laguna sweeper Michael Kimball shut down several Canyon scoring

attempts and Christian Ochoa came up with several saves to get the

shutout.

Valley 2, Laguna 0

Valley, which earlier had defeated Laguna, 2-1, a the Anaheim Holiday Classic, scored once in each half for the victory.

Laguna had two scoring opportunities in the first half, but shots

by Marc Hughes just missed the net. The defensive play of Logan

Warren, Christian Menes, Brian Vail and Zack Lebon limited Valley to

just one, first half goal.

Laguna 7, Hot Spurs 0

Having scored just one goal in its first two tournament matches,

Laguna erupted against their opponent from San Diego.

Marc Hughes’ goal in the match’s early stages got Laguna off and

running. Caleb Candelaria, a recent addition to the team, contributed

consecutive goals to up Laguna’s lead to 2-0.

His first goal was a volley off a pass from Hughes, his second, a

sharp blast from the outside.

Austin Paxson’s closed the first half scoring with a late goal.

Laguna’s tough defense allowed the Hot Spurs only two shots on

goal in the opening half.

In the second half, Jimmy Kang and Christian Menes both scored

goals -- their first at the club level -- and Paxson, as he did in

the first half, closed out the scoring.

Laguna 3, Long Beach United 1

Needing a victory to claim second-place in the tournament, Laguna

used a strong second half effort to score all three of its goals.

Trailing 1-0 on an unusual goal that was scored off a deflected

pass off a Long Beach United player, Laguna tied up the match when

Marc Hughes scored with a defender draped on his jersey.

Minutes later, Hughes scored again to give Laguna its first lead,

2-1.

Caleb Candelaria’s goal from the outside corner of the box iced

the game.