Boys’ Soccer: Edison deals Estancia’s first loss
HUNTINGTON BEACH — Shocked is how Coach Robert Castellano said he felt on Wednesday night. He wasn’t shivering because it was chilly.
Going into the evening, his Estancia High boys’ soccer team had not allowed a goal in its first six matches of the season.
In the seventh match, Castellano saw his Eagles give up four goals at Edison.
“I’ve never seen us come out like this,” Castellano said after Estancia lost, 4-2. “I think we lost a little bit of our hunger. I think we got a little complacent after maybe the Newport [Harbor] game [we won, 2-0, last week].
“We just did not come out to play today. We made a lot of mistakes we usually don’t make, a lot of defensive errors that we usually don’t make.”
The breakdowns cost the Eagles their unbeaten start to the season.
Charlie Breneman, Edison’s coach, said he was aware of Estancia’s impressive start in which it held every opponent scoreless. That changed when Edison (4-3-2) faced the Eagles (3-1-3).
In the 27th minute, Connor Gordon became the first player to find the back of the net against Estancia. The junior added a second goal in the 55th minute.
Each of Gordon’s goals gave the Chargers the lead. He is the team’s most dangerous player, and he helped Edison break a 1-1 tie early in the second half.
Gordon dribbled deep in the box, before a defender took him down, setting up a penalty kick. Taylor Kane stepped in for the PK and hammered it past the goalkeeper to put Edison ahead, 2-1, in the 47th minute.
By this time, Edison seemed to have the momentum. The Eagles played without one of their top players, midfielder Alex Esquivel. He left the match three minutes before Kane’s goal.
“When he went down [with a hip-flexor injury], that’s when our midfield kind of fell apart, because he’s our rock in there,” Castellano said.
Without Esquivel, the Eagles still managed to tie things up at 2-2 on a bizarre play at the 52nd mark.
Anthony Pastrana sent a cross from the right side, and the keeper let the ball go through, only to see it go in for a goal. Estancia seemed to be back in it.
Three minutes later, Gordon pushed Edison out in front again. This time, from just inside the box, he blasted a left-footed shot toward the upper-right corner, beating the diving keeper.
The Chargers put the match away with five minutes left. Ty O’Connor’s free kick from outside the box made it a two-goal lead.
“We kind of needed it,” Castellano said of the team’s first setback. “I think we were a little too happy, a little too high, a little too complacent. We needed that loss to get our hunger back. We needed to get scored on, so we can learn to play a little more with urgency and learn to play with a little more hunger.”
The Eagles will have time to get ready for their next match. They play on Dec. 27 at home against Brea Olinda in the eighth annual North Orange County Classic.
Twitter: @DCPenaloza