CdM breaks Eagles’ hearts

COSTA MESA — With a flick of his foot Reed Williams put a little bit of the past to rest.

The freshman forward’s goal in the 74th minute gave the Corona del Mar High boys’ soccer team a 1-0 victory over Estancia in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs Saturday.

The Sea Kings (8-11-2) move on to the second round Wednesday when they will play against Orange, a 2-1 upset winner over Santa Ana Valley. The second-round game’s site will be determined by coin flip.

Williams’ goal came off an assist from senior midfielder John Udartsev who missed the entire pre-league season with a torn abdominal muscle. His disappointment of missing half his senior season was nowhere among the fray, as the Sea Kings swarmed together to celebrate the score.

Gone were thoughts of a 3-1 loss to the Eagles Dec. 8 and the revenge that followed the release of the brackets Monday.

“We wanted to pay them back,” Williams said of the Sea Kings mentality before the game. “We were really ready.”

The victory also put an end to two straight seasons of crushing first-round defeats, a 2-1 loss in sudden-death overtime in 2005 and a loss by penalty-kick shootout to No. 4-seeded Woodbridge in 2006.

Sea Kings Coach Pat Callaghan was happy his team could taste the victorious side of a late game-winning goal in the playoffs.

“We had two terrible heartbreaking defeats the past two years,” Callaghan said.

But Saturday’s ending was only painful for the Estancia sideline.

The left-footed Udartsev darted into the left side of the 18-yard box when he spotted Williams cutting toward the net.

“As soon as I saw Reed I knew we were going to score,” Udartsev said. “I wasn’t surprised he put it in.”

Little did Udartsev know, nerves were racking Williams as the pass approached before he cleanly put it into the back of the net.

“I was just nervous I’d miss,” Williams said. “I just wanted to make it in. I was relieved when it went in. I was really tired.”

The Sea Kings shouted at each other to “Keep it up” and they controlled the remainder of the match, nearly scoring again and earning a corner kick, while preventing Estancia (11-6-5) from getting off a shot.

“This might have been the most nervous game I’ve ever had,” said CdM senior goalkeeper Aman Sahni, who gave extra credit to sophomore Miles Kellerman for his defense. “When we scored I knew we were going to win. I wasn’t going to allow them to score.”

Callaghan said it was the playoff jitters that troubled him most about his team prior to the game.

“I was worried about us being nervous,” said Callaghan, who praised junior forward Paolo Iaccarino’s tenacious play at forward. “Estancia is a very good passing team and they are technically sound. We played wonderfully. We settled in right away. We played strong and kept our shape. We were superior at winning balls in the air. I think they were shocked at what we brought.”

Winning signified a complete turnaround for a team which finished the pre-league season with a 2-8-2 record.

“We played such a hard schedule [before league],” said Callaghan, whose team won three of its last four Pacific Coast League games. “We started to put it together in league play and at the end I thought we were the best team in the league.”

Estancia finished with an Orange Coast League title and hopes of a deep run in the playoffs.

Eagles Coach Gannon Burks has taken his team to the playoffs each of his first three years, with first-round exits every time, now two in a row by a 1-0 margin.

“Long term goals sometimes take a long time,” Burks said. “Maybe it’s my fault. I’ll take the blame. I’ll go back and revaluate what I did wrong. Not to take anything away from Corona del Mar, but we dominated that game. Unfortunately, we made one mistake and they had a great counterattack.”

Burks added the league championship banner that is going up in the gym will help alleviate some of the pain.

“They’re going to be a part of history,” Burks said. “When it comes down to it you have to put the ball in the back of the net. I love [the team]. I wish them the best. Tomorrow I’ll be able to wake up and be with my children and they’ll be able to be with their families. Nobody got hurt.”

It was senior forward Edgar Rodriguez’s final game as an Eagle. The team’s leading scorer was hard on himself for Estancia not scoring, but not having another game with his teammates was worse.

“We just told each other to keep our heads up and don’t cry,” Rodriguez said. “We wanted to win. It was a very close game. We couldn’t get it together. It was very frustrating. I’m going to miss having fun with my buddies. You never know when you are going to see them again. After graduation everyone is going to go their separate ways.”