Boys, girls soccer teams open league play with wins
Photo by Katherine Meza Rios
Santa Ana’s boys soccer team opened Orange Coast League play Friday with a 3-0 home victory over St. Margaret’s.
The Saints’ (4-3-2, 1-0) used strong defense and passing throughout the match and senior Jose Julian Huerta started off the score sheet, netting the 1st goal and exciting the crowd.
Senior captain Jacob Espinoza could be heard telling his team that they need more communication and to step up their performance because they were getting too comfortable with the lead.
Matthew Navas and Adrian Mendoza continued to apply the pressure between goals, before Gustavo Herrera scored on an assist from Bryan Cisneros to put the Saints up 2-0.
Herrera was given a yellow card for tackling and Robert Estrada received another the crowd didn’t agree with, but everything else was smooth for Santa Ana as Jonathan Dominguez netted a goal of his own to give the Saints the comfortable 3-0 lead.
Other close calls came when Adrian Mendoza almost scored but hit the crossbar and Brian Mendez missed just wide and had one saved by the St. Margaret’s (6-2, 1-1) keeper.
Senior Randy Guerrero and Morgan Nelson combined for the clean sheet in the net, playing one half each.
Senior Josef Reyes said “Never have trust in any opponent. Always give everything in any game.”
The Saints return to the field Wednesday for a 2:30 tilt at Calvary Chapel (3-5, 1-1).
The girls squad has opened league play with 2-1 victories over St. Margaret’s and Calvary Chapel. The Lady Saints have scored a goal in each half so far during the league schedule and face-off with Costa Mesa (7-6) on Thursday at 3:15.
