Laguna gets past Calvary

Mike Sciacca

Giovanni Vlahos said his Laguna Beach High boys’ soccer team “showed

up” to play in its Pacific Coast League match against Calvary Chapel.

The Breakers did, indeed, their 3-0 victory over the visiting

Eagles pushed them into the win column for the first time in league

play.

“Constructing passes, talking to one another, hitting shot after

shot on Calvary,” is how Vlahos described Laguna’s team play. “And

the one thing that they should have done against every other team in

PCL that we’ve played, and that’s play physical.

“Calvary didn’t push us off of one ball. We were the bullies that

night. And that made me proud,” he said.

Raul Albarran, Clark Olson and Sam Luna each scored goals and Erik

Haug had five saves.

Laguna, which played host to Tesoro Wednesday , has two league

matches remaining. Today, the Breakers play at University, then wrap

up the regular season Wednesday by hosting Corona del Mar.

“We still have the slimmest of hope to make playoffs,” Vlahos

said. “We have to win the final three games against the toughest of

competition but, I know we can do that if we play our game. The only

problem now is that we not only need to win, we need help from other

teams to make it.

“The door hasn’t completely closed on us yet. It’s getting there,

but not yet.”

In girls’ soccer, Laguna dropped a 1-0 league match to Tesoro on

Tuesday.

We ended up losing the match 1-0 on a very controversial goal, but

walked off the field with our heads high,” Laguna coach Bill Rolfing

said. “We had played with great determination, on the road, against

the CIF Division II champion and played them 0-0 throughout the match

until the late, no-call foul goal.”

Sophomore goalie Annie Olson had an outstanding game in net with

15 saves.

Steady performances by senior co-captain Courtney Hamchuk at

sweeper, stopper Jaime Hancock and tremendous outside defensive work

from Jessica Heitel and Anna Hopper repeatedly thwarted Tesoro’s

attack.

Laguna also had hustle from its young midfield, which consisted of

freshman Courtney Capobianco and sophomore Avery Zollener, as the two

frustrated the Titans.

The Breakers’ attack was led by senior co-captain Emily Rolfing

and energized by seniors Laura Yale and Ana Velasquez.

Despite the one-goal setback, Laguna was proud of its achievement

against a strong Tesoro team, Rolfing said.

“It was truly a highlight of the season for the young, hardworking

talent that battles everyday for Laguna Beach High,” he said. “We are

playing excellent ball these days and able to match the challenge of

the stronger opponents.”

In its previous Pacific Coast League outing, Laguna led, 1-0, for

most of its match against Calvary Chapel, but the visiting Eagles

scored two late goals to pull out a 2-1 win.

“The Calvary Chapel game was not typical for us,” Rolfing said.

“After working throughout the year to develop a fast paced ground

passing game, we were confronted with a kickball fest against Calvary

Chapel. From the opening whistle Calvary decided to play long ball on

us and unfortunately we were not able to bring our game in control.”

Laguna took a 1-0 halftime lead on a goal by Yale.