Inspired Rea tops Dolphins

Bryce Alderton

Sometimes all that is needed to reach a goal is passion and love and

the rest follows.

Rea Elementary third- and fourth-grade boys began approaching

Coach Ryan Baker months ago, asking if they could play in the Daily

Pilot Cup.

“These kids live for soccer,” Baker said.

The desire paid off, as Rea outlasted two-time defending division

champion Mariners Christian, 1-0, in the Gold division final Sunday

at the Costa Mesa Farm Sports Complex.

Miguel Villanueva deflected Alex Esquivel’s free kick into the net

in the 46th minute and Rea held on from there despite constant

pressure from Mariners Christian, which hadn’t allowed a goal in the

tournament heading into the final.

Players doused Baker with water once the final whistle sounded.

This is Baker’s second season coaching Rea third- and fourth-graders.

Mariners Christian defeated Rea, 4-2, in the division semifinals a

year ago.

“Last year when we played them we weren’t ready,” Baker said.

Mariners Christian scored three goals in the first 10 minutes of that

game.

Such was not the case this year.

Baker said he used a newspaper article questioning the strength of

his team’s defense as motivation.

“I told [the Sharks] to follow [the Dolphins] around as much as

much as we could, to show them we were ready,” Baker said.

Both teams battled tenaciously the entire 60 minutes.

“The team with the most effort wins a game like that,” Dolphins’

Coach Scott McBean said. “The one-goal games can go either way.”

McBean moved his defenders upfield late in the second half to

create scoring chances and the strategy paid off.

Mariners Christian, which had outscored its prior four tournament

foes, 20-0, spent the final 10 minutes primarily in the Rea zone, but

couldn’t get a shot past goalkeeper Osiel Porcayo.

Porcayo made four saves, including a leaping stab of a blast from

Dolphins’ sweeper Luke Langdon off a corner kick by Jack McBean.

McBean, along with Luke Napolitano, Ethan Hold and Spencer Sharpe,

led the Dolphins’ front line.

Eleven minutes into the second half, McBean broke free along the

sideline, cut in past the final defender and fired a point-blank shot

that was stopped by the left post.

Four minutes later, Rea’s Gustavo Venegas drew a foul to set up

Esquivel’s free kick.

Leading up to the shot, Baker said he saw a Mariners Christian

defender stationed against the left post. Baker told Villanueva to

stand beside the defender.

“I didn’t tell [Villanueva] to hit it in, but he did,” Baker said.

“[the deflection in front of the net] was like a hockey move.”

Rea outshot Mariners Christian, 10-7. Dolphins’ goalkeeper Michael

Allen made five saves, including a point-blank stop on Rea forward

Eric Salgado with 10 minutes left.

Rea appeared to take a 1-0 lead midway through the first half on a

25-yard free kick. The lofted shot sailed into the net, but the goal

was disallowed because the referee hadn’t blown his whistle to

restart play.

Baker praised the play of sweeper Victor Rodriguez and the

determination of Salgado.

Baker said Salgado scored 13 goals during the six-day tournament.

“Victor is small, but he is tougher than any player on any team

I’ve seen,” Baker said.

Alex Duarte, nursing an injured left ankle, played in pain and Rob

Rosenast helped spark Dolphins’ attacks while Tyler Palmquist and

Chris Okey anchored the defense.

“They tried as hard as they could and that is all you could ask

for,” Scott McBean said.

Fernando Garcia, Geovani Vivas, Danny Gonzalez, Daniel Jimenez,

Erick Hernandez, Johnathon Alcado and Junior Dominguez rounded out

Rea’s roster while Derek Kula, Daniel Munoz and Kevin Norman

completed Mariners Christian’s.