Marina boys’ soccer capitalizes on chances in win over Ocean View
Marina High has created plenty of chances through its first four boys’ soccer games of the season, but finishing them hasn’t been simple, and the Vikings’ difficulties were apparent in the first half of Friday afternoon’s nonleague clash against visiting Ocean View.
Fourteen shots, eight of them on frame, with nothing to show for it.
Things came together after halftime, with a pair of David Hallworth free kicks prodding Marina toward an emphatic 3-0 triumph, another step, it is hoped, toward a first winning campaign in eight years.
Quinn Hartman’s glancing header from Hallworth’s serve gave Marina (1-2-1) the advantage four minutes into the second half. Ryan Patterson, making amends for a missed penalty kick in the first half, put away a loose ball in the 55th minute, and Dominic Ortenzo added the third from Ryan Spielman’s feed on a quick counterattack 15 minutes later.
“We’ve been able to create opportunities, we’ve just been struggling to put them in the back of the net,” Marina head coach Gabriel Lucatero said. “To see them actually get some in the second half was great. Hopefully, we continue to build on that.”
They’ll have to do so to emerge from the tough Wave League after missing the CIF Southern Section postseason by one point last year, and Lucatero believes his team, with greater club experience, is capable of that and perhaps more.
“There’s a lot more fight in them than we’ve seen in the past,” Lucatero said. “There’s more composure than there’s been. ... We definitely feel they have what it takes to get there.”
Marina was in charge throughout, forcing turnovers in the Seahawks’ half, utilizing the flanks to bypass a clogged midfield and prospering from the play of Hallworth and Pedro Flores in central midfield. The Vikings held a 23-6 shot advantage, didn’t permit Ocean View (1-5-1) an attempt until the 51st minute and conceded just one shot on goal — Emiliano Balderrama’s dipping, 50-yard blast that diving goalkeeper Enrique Guerrero kept from the lower-right corner.
Marina might have scored three in the first half, but Seahawks defender Jesse Gomez got in the way of Tomaslav Steele’s close-range shot in the eighth minute, Vanson Vu fired wide off a rebound at the left post in the 30th minute, and Patterson’s penalty kick in the 38th minute failed to challenge goalkeeper Jayden Trujillo.
Patterson made up for it after Hallworth’s free kick from 36 yards caromed off Steele’s back and onto his path.
“Missed opportunity, the penalty kick. Working on placement under pressure,” Patterson said. “But great ball from David. He keeps playing perfect balls and out attackers are getting their heads on them.”
Ocean View lacked the tactical awareness required to stay with the Vikings, but head coach Lucas Kim thinks his team can take some strides forward after ending a 52-game winless streak — dating to January 2020 — with Wednesday’s 2-1 comeback victory over Cypress.
“That’s something we talked about, that that potential’s always there, but potential is useless unless you do something with it,” he said. “I think, realistically, we’ll get some wins, but it’s going to take more hard work and tenacity.”
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