Costa Mesa boys’ soccer captures coveted sweep of rival Estancia

There were no expectations for Costa Mesa’s boys’ soccer team when it kicked off the season two months ago.

Not after five straight losing campaigns, not after going 6-21-5 in Orange Coast League play the past three years, not after a dozen Battle for the Bell showdowns with archrival Estancia without a win, and certainly not after the Mustangs opened with four defeats, three of them shutouts.

That makes the triumphs all the sweeter, and Wednesday night’s — a 2-1 Battle for the Bell win over the visiting Eagles — was undeniably sweet. A late goal by Jay Parra, product of a sizzling Daniel Henriquez run, and three big moments from goalkeeper Kevin Perez Henriquez prodded Costa Mesa to its first outright Bell since 2016, with a hugely rare sweep in the series.

Mission accomplished.

“It’s amazing,” said Santiago Guzman, who has been part of the program for eight years and is in his third season as head coach of the Mustangs. “Seeing these guys [succeed] after eight years of not taking Battle [for] the Bell and not being able to beat [Estancia] ..., I’m just very proud of those boys.

“The difference was heart. We are heart. We wanted it. The whole team has bought into our goals, and this is one of our goals, to get the Bell and win city champs, and we did it.”

It was all but assured following the Mustangs’ 5-0 mid-December road romp, their first victory over Estancia in 13 outings since 2017 — goal differential is the tiebreaker if each team wins once — but holds additional weight as their unbeaten streak, since the start of December, grew to nine games, eight of those wins.

That run has put an unexpected aim within reach: a first league championship in 22 years, and Costa Mesa (8-4-1 , 7-0-1 in the Orange Coast League, 22 points) pushed six points ahead of longtime powerhouse Saddleback (8-3-4, 5-1-1), which had a bye but figures to trim the gap back to three against fifth-place St. Margaret’s (2-9-2, 2-4-2) on Friday, when the Mustangs are off. The first meeting with Saddleback finished 1-1; Costa Mesa is home for next Friday’s rematch.

“We’re shooting for the league title,” Guzman said. “That’s something we didn’t have in mind at the beginning of the season, but as the season kept going and we started winning and being a better team out there, that’s now our second goal.”

Estancia (5-8-4, 3-3-2) holds a one-point lead in the fight for third place over two-time defending Orange Coast League champion Santa Ana (6-6-5, 3-3-1), which drew, 3-3, at St. Margaret’s and has a game in hand on the Eagles. They’ll face off in a league finale Jan. 31 at Estancia. The league’s top four claim CIF Southern Section playoff berths.

Estancia and Costa Mesa traded first-half penalty kicks after fouls in the boxes — Christian Gomez converting for the Eagles in the 32nd minute, Miguel Reyes answering four minutes later for the Mustangs — and then Perez Henriquez twice prevented his team from falling behind again.

The junior netminder made a point-blank stop on Gabe Johner at the right post from a throw-in just before halftime, then made a spectacular foot save, with the ball ricocheting off the crossbar, off the dynamic Gomez’s one-on-one foray 12 minutes into the second half.

Eagles goalkeeper Joel Perez came up big in the 65th minute, parrying wide Noe Martinez’s blast from a nifty Roman Serpas chip, but he had no chance on Parra’s winner. The junior forward, who played at Estancia as a freshman, fired into the open right side of the net from the left edge of the box after Henriquez dribbled past three defenders.

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Parra, who had the first goal in the first game against Estancia. “Lifted my head, and I saw that it was open, and I just slotted it in.”

Perez Henriquez, who is unbeaten in five games since returning from a fifth-metatarsal injury two weeks ago, made sure it was enough, handling two sharp Gomez shots from distance, and most important, holding off two attackers to snag a loose ball off a rebound in the goalmouth five minutes into stoppage time.

“Our goalkeeper saved the day,” said midfield leader Gabe Garcia, the Mustangs’ most dynamic attacker. “Thanks to Kevin, we’re on top right now.”

If Guzman is surprised by Costa Mesa’s trajectory, Garcia isn’t.

“I knew it was going to happen,” he said. “We knew because everyone was more focused than last year, we became more of a family, and we started picking each other up together. ... We all want it, and we’re tired of being the underdog.”

Parra sees it differently. Two months ago, the idea that the Mustangs would be on target for a league championship would have seemed a fantasy.

“I wouldn’t have believed it, to be honest,” he said. “But thank God that we are.”