Rodriguez leads Rea to win

COSTA MESA — Before Kaiser Elementary faced off against Daily Pilot Cup powerhouse Rea, the Kaiser parents rallied for a team meeting.

Assistant Coach Gerardo Jimenez preached that the parents continue to support their kids, who had already played a game earlier in the day.

“For us to win this game, we need to pass!” Jimenez told the parents.

Unfortunately for the Kaiser Knights, they would end up losing to Rea, 4-3, in a thriller, but they battled until the end. Eusebio Rodriguez led Rea with two goals, including the game-winner that came with about 10 minutes left of the boys’ third- and fourth-grade Gold Division semifinal match at the Costa Mesa Farm Complex.

Rea will face Andersen, the defending champion, today at 2 p.m. for the Gold Division title.

Marlon Nova scored one goal, and Luis Mendez had the other for Rea. For Kaiser, Carson Poivre and Byron Gutierrez scored goals.

“[The teams were] evenly matched and someone has to lose,” Jimenez said. “The guys played their hardest, that’s all we asked.”

With only a few minutes of the first half in the books, Rea had an own goal, giving Kaiser a 1-0 lead. Gutierrez pushed the ball up the field early for Kaiser, and tried to score as well.

Hugo Enriquez displayed dazzling footwork for Kaiser on the offensive end. Teammates Poivre and Jamie Okvist helped Enriquez on offense.

The game was so intense that the referee stopped play and asked parents on both sidelines to step back.

Every time Kaiser needed a big free kick, they would go to Kevin Tellez. Tellez’s power was matched by Rea defender Cristobal Tiscureno, who had numerous rainbow kicks that floated down the field.

Around ten minutes into the first half, Rea evened the score on the goal by Rodriguez.

Okvist had several near goals in the first half, with one shot sailing over the left goal post. Okvist got injured on the play, but shook it off and stayed in the game.

Josh Lewis kept a lot of balls in play for Kaiser. Duke Walker deflected many Rea attempts as goalie.

With only a couple of minutes to go in the first half, Nova scored for Rea giving them a 2-1 edge at the break.

With two minutes gone in the second half, Poivre tied it, 2-2, for Kaiser. One minute later, Gutierrez got free on a fast break and gave Kaiser a 3-2 lead.

“It was exciting, you can’t even explain it,” Kaiser Coach Nicole Jimenez said. “You’re about to win, against Rea, which is a big school.”

About three minutes after Kaiser’s offensive explosion, Rea decided to join the party.

Mendez tied the game with a goal that went through the goalie’s legs. Around a minute after that, Rodriguez added his second goal of the game after a beautiful move that faked out the defender.

“I think they [Kaiser] scored in the first minute and a half,” Rea Coach Adrian Valencia said. “We went from 2-1 up to 3-2 down. So we got pretty nervous right away.

But our kids did great [and] came right back. [They] got two goals, played wonderful, [and] ended up coming out on top.”

For the remaining 10 minutes of the game, both teams continued to try to score.

Jose Garfias controlled the midfield for Rea.

“I’m sort of tired,” Garfias said. “[Today] we’re going to play the finals and win.”

Both teams had smiles are there faces on the end. Despite losing, the Kaiser coaches were content that their Knights fared so well against a historically tough Rea team.

“I think it’s not disappointing when you lose against Rea, because you went far and you play against a tough team,” Nicole Jimenez said.

JASON KORNFELD may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or at jason.kornfeld@latimes.com.