Newport Harbor boys’ soccer rallies to return to CIF semifinals
The initial moments of the second half were a clear indicator of Newport Harbor’s intentions — the Sailors were not going to go down without a fight.
Newport Harbor boys’ soccer coach Ignacio Cid bellowed into the night, imploring his players to challenge for every ball and for the bench to voice their support for their teammates on the pitch.
Desire and desperation drove Newport Harbor to a 3-1 comeback victory over visiting Oxnard Pacifica on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 boys’ soccer playoffs.
“They know I’m not going to leave them,” Cid said. “When it gets hard, what are you going to do? You’re going to try harder, and you’re going to move on. They see me doing it, and they’re like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ That’s contagious.”
Third-seeded Newport Harbor (17-5-1) will now appear in its second consecutive semifinal, the round in which it lost to Los Alamitos in the Division 3 bracket last season. Cid said that apart from the results, the players are leaving behind a legacy and a standard for those who come into the program.
James Evans, Olivier Renard and Beck Brosnan scored in a masterclass of a second half for Newport Harbor, which will now play host to No. 2 Los Angeles Loyola (19-4-3) on Friday.
Newport Harbor was in the driver’s seat to win the Surf League championship, before back-to-back losses in the final week of the season left the Sailors in need of an at-large berth. The Sailors’ second life has been as good as gold.
“We should have won the league title still,” Evans said. “I don’t know how we lost that Los Al game, but I’d way rather be in the position we are than winning league and losing first round.”
Pacifica (19-6-2) scored first when Andy Martinez got a running start in roping a 30-yard shot into the top left corner of the goal in the 34th minute.
Evans had the answer in the 57th minute, a bit of fortune accompanying the cross in from the right wing by Brosnan. The bouncing ball ricocheted off Pacifica goalkeeper Ruben Lopez (eight saves), and Evans was rewarded for his run with a scoring header.
Renard rose up for a header to take the lead three minutes later, cashing in on a corner kick sent in by Jake Shubin.
“At this point, it’s just grit,” Renard said. “We’re all playing two games a week, so we’re all going to be exhausted, but it just depends on who wants it more, and I think this year, we have a team that really wants it.
“Losing last year in the semifinals against Los Al, it sucked. I hated to see my seniors cry. I don’t want to do the same thing. I want to win. I just want to win CIF.”
Newport Harbor had been creating a swell of momentum leading up to the tying goal, earning multiple corner kicks, including one on which Eduardo Hopkin attempted a bicycle kick.
Pacifica didn’t have much opportunity to play with the ball in the attacking third until the late stages of the second half, and Hayden Baker, Oswaldo Portillo, Jack Davey and Landon Baker allowed little to get near goalkeeper Jack Shepard.
Brosnan stole the ball on a throw-in, going in on a breakaway and converting to put the game away in stoppage time.
“It can be deflating, but we were dominating the game up until then,” Brosnan said of conceding the first goal of the match. “We had all the ball, they had one shot. We knew we were still in control of the game. We weren’t really worried. We know we can score quick. We did. We got three in the second half.”
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