Davis boys’ soccer opens Daily Pilot Cup title defense with win over Mariners Christian
Jose Duarte said that nobody expected his Costa Mesa Davis Magnet School Ducks to capture the boys’ third- and fourth-grade Gold Division title at the Daily Pilot Cup last year.
“Everybody always expects [Costa Mesa] Kaiser to win,” Duarte said. “Last year we beat them in the semis. The year before, they beat us in the final. We won last year and didn’t get a lot of attention.”
The same will not be true this year for the Ducks. A title defense means that opponents are aiming for you.
Still, Davis looked like it would again be in the conversation after opening the tournament Wednesday with a 7-1 victory over Costa Mesa Mariners Christian at Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex.
Isaak Duarte, Sea Perkins and Jack Kondo each scored two goals for Davis. Isaak Duarte started it off with a goal in the very first minute, and Davis was off to the races.
Sam Boyce, the son of Costa Mesa High girls’ soccer coach Jason Boyce, also scored for Davis. Jose Duarte said three of his players are carryovers from last year’s title team — his son Isaak, center midfielder Lucas Chang and left fullback Raul Lopez.
Isaak Duarte, who added an assist, said he is confident that Davis can again go far.
“We won last year, and we won this game,” Isaak Duarte said. “I think that if we try our best, we can do it again. We always play at school together.”
Center fullback Maddox Comeau was another key player for Davis, which plays Costa Mesa Whittier on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex field No. 1B in its second and final Group D pool-play game. Luke Hobbis, A.J. Pang and Perkins all split time at goalkeeper in Wednesday’s win.
The Ducks led 3-0 at halftime and used back-to-back goals by Kondo early in the second half to open up a 5-0 edge.
Noa Perkins, Anton Grun, Nicolas Kim and Gavin Garza also contributed for Davis. Jose Duarte doesn’t want his team to be cocky despite the lopsided result.
“There are a lot of factors that come into winning, not just being able to score,” Duarte said. “Sometimes the best team doesn’t win. Referees become a factor, the other team becomes a factor, your players not playing to their potential becomes a factor. It’s not easy. I’ve had other teams that I thought we would win it, and we’ve always fell short. Last year I wasn’t expecting to win, and we came together and we won. There’s a lot of uncertainty. You can have a good team, but the ball doesn’t bounce your way and you’ll be out.”
Mariners Christian avoided the shutout when forward Isaac Abraham scored midway through the second half. Joel Cefalia made a nice run in the first half, while a couple of corner kicks from Ryan Palmer also provided opportunities for the Lions, who got four goalkeeper saves from Zack Leonard.
Justin Aboud, Jameson Richardson, Levi Redman, David Park, Nolan Scott, Isaiah Bahadoor, Braden Circle, Jed Farrow and Brennan Moore also contributed for Mariners Christian, which concludes pool play against Whittier on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Jack R. Hammett field No. 1B.
“[Davis] played a lot together,” Mariners Christian coach Jared Cefalia said. “We’ve practiced two weeks and that’s it. I’m just telling it like it is. We kept fighting and we’re proud of the boys. They never gave up.”
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