Estancia KO’s Mustangs

COSTA MESA — Who said soccer players don’t use their hands on the pitch?

Two players swung at each other at midfield, on center stage, for everyone to see at Estancia High. The first round of the Battle for the Bell against Costa Mesa turned into a “Friday Night Fight.”

Late in the match, Costa Mesa didn’t have a fighter’s chance. The Eagles delivered the knockout shots well before the altercation. They used their feet and head on a wet evening.

The Eagles clearly showed they own the rivalry and that they’re the defending Orange Coast League champions. Martin Garcia and Juan Vences each scored two goals as Estancia won, 5-0, and moved to the top of league.

The Eagles (10-7-3, 3-1-0 in league) did suffer a couple of major losses after knocking off Costa Mesa (8-4-2, 2-1-1) out of first place. JJ Rodriguez and Baggio Dominguez each received red cards, forcing them to sit out Estancia’s next match.

Rodriguez tried to avoid the card with 10 minutes left. The referee eventually found the senior on the Estancia bench, where he slipped a sweater over his jersey to hide.

Rodriguez couldn’t get away with what transpired on the field moments earlier. Estancia first-year head coach Robert Castellano tried to talk the official out of giving his captain a red card. He pleaded in Spanish.

No language was going to help Rodriguez’s cause after the punch he threw at Costa Mesa’s Jairo Farfan. The only defense he had was protecting himself from Farfan, whom he fouled.

Farfan charged Rodriguez and countered with a punch. Shoving by both sides on the field ensued. Some players on the Mustangs bench stepped on the field, until the officials restored order.

At the end of the match, the traditional high-fives between teams excluded the players with the red cards.

Rodriguez just watched from the Estancia sideline. Across the way, Farfan stood next to someone wearing a ski mask. It was a chilly night after all.

“It is disappointing,” Costa Mesa second-year coach Alex Cordoba said of the incident, which also resulted in Farfan missing the Mustangs’ next match against Laguna Beach. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve had a lot of respect for each other. It did get a little chippy. Boys are boys. It’s a physical game, but a lot of it I think has to be controlled by the ref and he just let things slip.

“I think it’s more damaging [for the Eagles] because everything goes through [Rodriguez] for them and they have a big game coming up with Calvary [Chapel]. Hopefully, it’ll be in our favor that Calvary steps up and beats them.”

The Mustangs stood no chance of doing so in their first opportunity this season. The Eagles have only lost once in the last 11 matches.

Goalkeeper Edgar Vega has been instrumental in Estancia’s success. He stopped whatever Costa Mesa kicked his way and recorded his sixth shutout of the season.

Three minutes into the match, Rodriguez set the tempo for Estancia for the rest of the first half. The midfielder took a cross from Vences atop the 18 and scored.

The Eagles dominated the first 40 minutes, and before halftime, they poured it on. When the rain stopped, it started raining goals.

Estancia scored three times in the final five minutes. Vences, who was deep in the box, put away a shot. With a defender hanging all over him, the junior kicked it to the right of keeper Irvin Dorantes.

The next two goals came off long direct free kicks by Rodriguez. Garcia finished both, one on a header, and the other after getting to a rebound and finding an open net.

“We have been scoring goals. Eleven goals in [our last] two [league] games is pretty good,” Castellano said with a smile, knowing the Eagles are in prime position to win their fourth Orange Coast League title in as many seasons heading into the second half of league play. “We had a tough preseason and we had a lot of people saying that we we’re too young and inexperienced [to repeat]. We’re definitely on a roll now.”