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Calipatria High's Jose Bueno (left) fights to control the ball against a defender from Calvin Christian High in Calipatria on Wednesday. (JOSELITO VILLERO PHOTO / February 27, 2013) |
CALIPATRIA — The most successful season the Calipatria High boys’ soccer team has had in school history ended with a 2-1 loss to Calvary Christian High in the semifinals of the CIF-San Diego Section Division V playoffs here Wednesday.
In Rom Medina’s first year at the helm in Calipatria, the Hornets finished 11-4-2 overall and 8-0 in Manzanita League for the league title.
“That’s great for the program … making strides,” Medina said. “We are a young program and it’s great to see the kids dedicate themselves to pushing the program.”
The Hornets were given the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, giving them a first-round bye. They beat league-rival Vincent Memorial High, 4-0, in the quarterfinals before facing the No. 3 Crusaders.
The Crusaders also had a first-round bye, then beat Horizon High, 5-2, in the quarterfinals.
In Wednesday’s game, the Hornets drew first blood with pure speed by junior forward Alvaro Baltierra.
In just the eighth minute of action, Baltierra recovered a cleared ball close to midfield, in the Crusaders’ side of the field. He used pure speed to charge the opposing goal, beating two defenders in the process.
His left-footed shot was angled perfectly in the bottom corner of the goal to give the Hornets the lead.
That was the formula the Hornets tried to use the entire game, counterattacking with speed while the Crusaders used control touching at the midfield to control the tempo.
“It was a tough battle. The kids played the full 80 minutes,” Medina said. “There’s nothing more I can ask for as a coach … that’s what I expected and that’s what they did.”
Crusaders junior midfielder Michael Wagenveld tied it in the 31st minute of the first half after a deflected cross bounced high enough for him to push it in the goal with his head.
The half ended 1-1 as the Crusaders slowly controlled the tempo and the Hornets tried to mount deadly counterattacks.
The Crusaders scored the final goal of the game in the 29th minute of the second half when the Crusaders, literally, pushed the ball just barely over the goal line for the eventual winning goal.
The Crusaders will advance to the division championship game scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at Mesa College in San Diego.
“It was a great season,” Medina said. “Yes, we’d like to be playing Saturday, but as a team we set high expectations at the beginning of the season and we met them … it just didn’t go as planned.”
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