Laguna Beach boys’ soccer edges past Long Beach Poly in CIF quarterfinals
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LONG BEACH — Dakota Guzman couldn’t contain his excitement at the end of the proceedings on the pitch on Wednesday at Long Beach Poly.
The senior midfielder approached Laguna Beach boys’ soccer coach Andy Thomas, lifted him in the air, and exclaimed where the team was headed.
That destination is the semifinals after the visiting Breakers held on for dear life in the second half of a 2-1 win over the Jackrabbits in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.
“They bombarded us a little bit the last 10 minutes,” Thomas said. “They bombarded us.”
Laguna Beach (14-5-5) went unscathed, despite Long Beach Poly (10-8-6) pulling numbers forward and even sending its goalkeeper into the box for successive free kicks in the closing seconds.
Breakers goalkeeper Cole Anderson made a point-blank save on Roger Juarez, who was left alone for a header in the box in the 63rd minute. Anderson absorbed the initial pace of the shot and caught the ball on a bobble.
Another close call came in the 49th minute. Roberto Bermudez fed in a shallow cross from the left wing. Anderson sold out on a dive off his line to stop its progress across the goal. The ball laid precariously out of the reach of Anderson, and Guzman was there to clear it away with the Jackrabbits crashing the net.
“We just played more conservatively,” Guzman said. “We didn’t take any chances. We just played our game. Both of our center backs are pretty solid back there, and with me dropping in and playing conservatively, they really have no chance.”
Julian Reichel opened the scoring, all of which occurred in the first half, when he settled down a ball played in behind the defense by left back Jackson Arrasin.
“I tried to get onside initially because I thought I was off, so I tried taking a few steps back, saw the ball go over,” Reichel said. “I knew I had a chance. I didn’t think there was a guy too close to me on my back. I saw the ball bouncing, I checked the goal quickly, and the keeper was on his line, not even close to coming out, so I knew I could take my time.”
Poly equalized in the 24th minute on a pretty passing play. Kaya Paz, a driver of possession for the Jackrabbits in the midfield, forced a turnover deep in the attacking third and found Joshua Martinez in the center of the box for the goal.
Laguna Beach, the Pacific Coast League champion, answered back via a set piece in the 38th minute. Center back Luke Singer served the ball up to the back post from the right corner flag, and Guzman headed it back across the goal and inside the post for a 2-1 lead.
“It means everything for me, and I think for the team, as well,” Guzman said of the playoff run continuing. “We set a goal at the beginning of the season to win CIF. We’ve been building our team up for four years, and I think it’s just time. It’s really nice to see it all come through at the end of the year, and I’m glad we’re here. I’m ready for semifinals.”
Nayan Martlin narrowly missed giving the Breakers some breathing room, as his shot hit the left post squarely and stayed out in the 62nd minute.
If the celebratory mood of the Breakers was something to behold after advancing to a semifinal date at home against Empire League champion Santa Ana (13-6-2) on Saturday night at 6 p.m., Thomas said it was a scene of pure jubilation in the second round at San Bernardino Indian Springs.
Laguna Beach trailed 2-0 in the final five minutes of the game, before Tom Schmidt and Reichel scored to send the game to extra time. Martlin supplied the winner in double overtime.
“It’s a bit of a turning point, isn’t it?” Thomas said. “If you know you can come back 2-0 down with five minutes to go, then you know you can do it, don’t you? It’s a bit of belief.”
Singer weighed in on the second-round comeback, too.
“That game was insane,” he said. “Maybe four minutes left, and we scored both of them off set pieces, so that was a really good win for us.”
Also in the CIF Southern Section boys’ soccer playoffs:
Edison 3, Anaheim Canyon 2: Micah Novak had a goal and an assist for the visiting Chargers on Wednesday in a Division 2 quarterfinal game.
Edison (15-4-1), the Sunset League champion, got three unanswered goals — from Novak, Ben Hickman and Oliver Worster — after falling behind 1-0 in the contest.
Andrew Mosham made a save in the final minute to preserve the win for Edison, which plays host to Studio City Harvard-Westlake (12-5-2) in a semifinal on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Los Amigos 3, Norwalk 3 (LA advances 5-4 on PKs): Erubey Bermudez had two goals and an assist on Wednesday in a Division 5 quarterfinal that could not be decided in regulation or extra time.
Jose Vargas also had a goal and an assist for top-seeded Los Amigos (11-5-3), which will travel to take on Compton Dominguez (14-2-2) in the semifinals on Saturday.
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