Youth Scene

Carly Van Oostendorp’s goal in the second quarter proved to be the game-winner for the Green Hornets, who captured the AYSO Area Q championship after a 1-0 win over the Mad Hornets in the girls’ under-12 division.

Julianna Eifler assisted on Van Oostendorp’s goal that gave Region 97 the title against Region 120.

Holly Halperin and Lani Kerrigan were excellent as goalkeepers for the Green Hornets, keeping the ball out of the net for a shutout.

Ashley Obuljen, Olivia Blanda, Amanda Cox and Mackenzie Mowery showed their speed, footwork and passing abilities on offense. Kailey Hambek, Haley Datt, Kylee Seeber and Breelyn Viloria each played relentless in the midfield. Lexi Van Oostendorp and Chloe Hyde as well as Datt and Eifler put up a strong defensive wall against the Mad Hornets. Coach Damon Van Oostendorp and assistant Jim Eifler were ecstatic with the team’s competitiveness and the individual accomplishments each player made throughout the season.

The Green Hornets move on to the Section 11 playoffs in February.

— Pam Garrett

Green Grass Wins Title

The Green Grass from AYSO Region 57 won the Area Q championship with a 5-1 victory over Irvine.

Brett Davidson scored a hat trick, collecting three goals in the second half. James Pflughaupt set the tone with two goals in the first half.

The “Grass Curtain” defense suffocated opponents throughout the Area Q playoffs allowing just one goal in the tournament. The gritty Grass backline of Max Helman, Court Clark and Giovanni Gentosi frustrated Irvine all game long making it difficult for it to mount any sustained offensive threat.

Davidson and Spencer Cornman provided top-notch goaltending for the Grass. Both keepers made game-changing saves turning away any chance Irvine had to mount a comeback.

Grass midfielders Jonathan Skolnik, Nic Sefarian, Billy Hoffman, Josh Forno and Armaan Patel played great throughout the area playoffs and came up big in the title game. Brady Shockey anchored the Grass midfield and really controlled the tempo of the game.

The Green Grass high-octane offense was on display in Sunday’s final. Pflughaupt centered the team’s front runners and distributed passes with a surgeon’s touch to a potent group of strikers made up of Ryan Brown, Preston Riddle, Alex Wendland, Finn Jeffrey and Blake Davidson.

The Green Grass, who won the Mayor’s Cup title, moves on the to the section playoffs Feb. 13.

— Scott Brown

Team uses hustle to win title

Corona del Mar’s HOGO Futbol Club capped an unbeaten 14-0-2 season by winning the boys’ under-12 division of the Tustin Winter Cup Soccer Tournament.

Winning the title, despite being the only non-club team in its division was especially gratifying for the local AYSO Plus team coached by Adam Muchnick and Eric DiBella.

HOGO (an acronym for “Hustle Our Guts Out”) worked hard throughout league play with a first-place finish of 11-0-1, the lone tie a scoreless opener before its team chemistry had developed. The club tournament offered the players a chance to compete at a higher level — and they delivered by winning the trophy.

Opening with a 2-0 victory over Elite FC, striker Travis Campos gave HOGO a 1-0 lead on a well-placed penalty kick. Winger Shane Gooding’s beautiful shot from the left side finished the scoring. They then beat a tough NECAXA team, 1-0, as midfielder Chase Dugan hammered a free kick over the wall and into the top right corner. Throughout the game, stopper Jack Garell executed the hawk strategy of shadowing tthe opposition’s most dangerous playmaker preventing him from any looks and shots.

The next opponent was the Slammers, a club based in Newport Beach. After falling behind 1-0, HOGO never gave up and answered with a clinical finish by Blake Munger and a game-winning goal by Huey McCaig with only a few minutes left to play.

Finally, against host Tustin United, Campos opened the scoring as he ran onto a perfectly-weighted through ball from midfielder Jacob Muchnick, and slotted the ball into the corner just past the outstretched arms of the diving Tustin keeper. Tustin leveled the game on a free kick, but the eventual 1-1 tie secured enough points for HOGO to bring home the championship.

Throughout the year, hustle and team play defined the HOGO team. Goalkeeper Liam Somekh’s strong defense included Garrett White, Karl Donovan, Evan Clary, Jack Garell and Oliver Kim. Midfielders Justin Muchnick, Jacob Muchnick, Dylan Campos, Blake Munger and Chase Dugan controlled the middle, transitioning play to strikers Travis Campos, Sam Kobrine and Kevin Rengifo.

This was a team that worked hard and hustled its guts out all season long and really defined winning with integrity.

— Jeff Garell

Hanson part of record

Justin Hanson of Newport Beach swam the butterfly leg in a national record-breaking performance at the Cerritos Olympic Swim Center recently.

Hanson is part of the boys’ 11-12-yearold 400-yard medley relay team that set a new National USA Age Group record at the Winter Age Group Swim Championships, finishing in 3 minutes, 53.04 seconds.

The relay team also included Thomas Smith (backstroke), Ken Takahashi (breaststroke) and Matthew Wong (freestyle).

They smashed the previous national record of 3:54.91, set in 2002.

The Winter Age Group Swim Championship meet annually brings together swim clubs from all over Southern California for a three-day competition.

Overall, the Irvine Aquazot Swim Club won the entire meet with a total score of 2,467 points.

The 11-12 boys’ medley relay team is coached by Rian Wise.

“It’s a pretty incredible swim,” said Brian Pajer, head coach of the Aquazot Swim Club, who was in Ohio with the club’s National team, when the 11-12 boys set the record. “They are an incredible group of kids who have worked really hard — and it has paid off. I’m very proud of what they accomplished.”

Hanson, 12, said that the four had just missed setting a record in its previous event, the 200 medley relay.

“We were so close to getting a record in our last event, but we knew we had one more chance to set a record,” he said. “I knew I needed to get my best time, and I did.”

Hanson’s finished the butterfly in 58.59.

— Mike Sciacca

Heels slam Hornets

The Newport-Mesa Tar Heels improved to 3-1 after a 50-28 home win over the Villa Park Hornets in National Junior Basketball boys’ seventh-grade All-Net action. After being humbled in the morning game on Sunday by the Rancho Santa Margarita Eagles, the Tar Heels bounced back and beat the Hornets by 22. The Heels started the game on a 15-0 run in the opening period with a stifling full-court press leading to many easy transition points. Coach Scott Stucki kept the press on the entire second quarter and cruised to a 25-8 halftime lead.

The Tar Heels were led by the stellar play of Riley Gaddis (11 points, seven rebounds), Hagen Truninger (nine points, four rebounds), Charlie Evans (eight points, four steals) and Cole Norris (eight points, five rebounds). Logan Miller and Max Stanley ran the team with precision passing and smothering defense while Grady Kimme, Kevin Fults and Brett Greenlee also played tough defense and combined for six steals and six assists in the game.

“This was our best overall game so far in the young season,” Coach Stucki said.

— Reader submission

76ers edge Supersonics

The 76ers beat the Supersonics, 19-18, Sunday in boys’ Division 2 NJB competition.

Both teams struggled under stiff defense on both sides of the ball, with the 76ers pulling out the win in the final 30 seconds of the game.

The 76ers were led by Matt Morton who scored six points and was a beast on the boards, hauling down 14 rebounds. Evan Cleary, the Sixers’ point guard, added four points. Grant Joyce scored four points, Mike Brown had three points and Braden Wolfe scored two points and had eight hard-fought rebounds.

— Reader submission

Heat holds off Nuggets

The Heat used a balanced team effort to score a 32-29 win over the Nuggets in boys’ Division 2 NJB action.

Patrick Jennings, Krishan Arora, Gianluca Vassalli and John Holland set screens, pulled down rebounds, played tough defense and gathered loose balls. Derek Mathuny came down with eight rebounds and added a free throw. Alec Nguyen pulled down nine boards, hit a lay-up and banked one in high off the glass.

Mitch Dean created problems for the Nuggets in the post on both ends and got his usual 10 boards, spent a lot of time at the free-throw line and contributed hustle, muscle and points. Brett Super worked hard at both ends, got a handful of steals and added points.

Drew Johnston had a super-solid game with few turnovers, seven rebounds, an assist and points from the free-throw line and the field including a 20-foot buzzer-beater.

— Greg Super

LaBruna nails big shot

Maria LaBruna hit an outside shot to win the game for the Scorpions, 17-16, over the People in girls’ Division 2 NJB action.

The game was fast and furious with a number of lead changes. Jasmyn Winters and Missy Taylor led the People with their ball handling and outside shooting.

The Scorpions had a great team effort with scoring from Tia DiGiovanni, Madeline Francis, Kennedy Mulvaney and LaBruna.

Both teams are looking forward to the rematch later in the season.

— Reader submission