Boys’ Soccer: Estancia remains unbeaten
The fog rolled in right before the Estancia High boys’ soccer team played at Jim Scott Stadium on Wednesday night. While the fog limited visibility on the field, it wasn’t hard to see why the Eagles stayed unbeaten through the first four matches of the season.
The Eagles earned an impressive 1-0 win at home against Santiago, the defending CIF Southern Section Division 5 champion. Sergio Gutierrez recorded the lone goal in the 67th minute, coming off a direct free kick from Kevin Pizarro.
Estancia (3-0-1) blanked its second opponent, goalkeepers Jesus Rodriguez and Jonathan Lopez combined for the shutout. After the first half, the Cavaliers didn’t challenge the Eagles.
Estancia dominated the second half, earning seven corner kicks. The hosts also outshot Santiago, 10-2, in the final 40 minutes.
In a six-day span, Estancia has faced two CIF Southern Section ranked opponents, edging Santiago, the top team in Division 5, and tying Huntington Beach, which shares the No. 10 spot in Division 1. The results should help the Eagles crack the Division 4 poll next week.
“It doesn’t matter,” Estancia Coach Robert Castellano said of the recognition.
Castellano was more worried about one of his best players, Pizarro, picking up a red card late in the nonleague affair. Things got chippy toward the end, and the referee tried to gain control.
There was a huge shove by Santiago keeper Adrian Covarrubias and too much talking by Pizarro. The referee caught and heard both. He booked Covarrubias with a yellow card for pushing Estancia’s Chris Moya after the two ran into each other outside the box. A couple of minutes later, the referee sent a chirping Pizarro off with a red card.
“He gets hot-headed and he needs to avoid that,” Castellano said of Pizarro, who will miss the Eagles’ next contest because of the red card. “He already got a yellow card and he needed to stop after that.”
Pizarro, a playmaker in the midfield and up top, has been instrumental in the Eagles’ hot start. The senior has assisted on five of the team’s six goals on the season.
The next match for Estancia is against another team from Garden Grove, at Pacifica, on Friday at 3 p.m. Santiago is the better of the two teams from that city, and Estancia slowed down the Cavaliers (3-2-1).
Defenders Memo Sosa, Tony Hernandez and Ruben Castaneda turned in a strong effort for the Eagles, making it easy for Rodriguez and Lopez. Rodriguez started and he turned away Santiago five times in the first half, keeping it scoreless at halftime. Castellano said he went with Lopez in the second half because Rodriguez dealt with a knee issue.
The second half saw Estancia mostly attacking in Santiago’s end. The Eagles created chances, winding up with six corner kicks in the first 20 minutes. Pizarro took each of the corners, but none of them proved successful. The best two opportunities deep in the box belonged to Andy Ceja and Gutierrez, but Ceja’s shot went wide left and Gutierrez’s header went right to Covarrubias.
Pizarro and Gutierrez finally figured out how to beat Covarrubias.
Pizarro took a free kick from the right side, from about 30 yards out, sending it toward the far post. Gutierrez jumped and knocked the ball in with his foot. His first goal of the season was enough to give the Eagles their best start in Castellano’s seven seasons in charge.
“It was a hard-fought match,” said Santiago Coach Sean Redmond, who looked disappointed that his team lost to a program that failed to reach the postseason last season.
Even in the fog, it was clear that Castellano has a playoff-caliber team.
