Boys’ under-12 club soccer team drops two games

An injury-plagued Laguna Beach Soccer Club boys’ under-12 team found

the going tough last weekend in league play.

On Sunday, Laguna suffered a 5-1 loss to the visiting Padeadores

of Mission Viejo at El Morro School.

The day before, Laguna dropped a hard-fought 1-0 match to the Mohammad Khakpour Soccer Club of Newport Beach at Sage Hill High.

Padeadores 5, Laguna Beach 1

The Padeadores of Mission Viejo came into the match trailing

first-place Laguna Beach by two points in the standings but made up

for points against a Laguna squad that was reeling from injuries

sustained in a previous match against MKSC.

The Padeadores never trailed, jumping out to a 3-0 halftime lead.

Laguna coach Andy Thomas gave his team a pep talk at the half,

telling them that they “must leave everything on the field the second

half.”

His squad responded with a spirited start to the second half.

Forward Miguel Jaimes burst through the Padeadores defense and

laid the ball off the outside of his foot and into the opposite

corner of the net to bring the score to 3-1.

A few minutes later, forward Marc Hughes was fouled in the

Padeadores box. Laguna stopper Christian Ochoa stepped up to take the

kick, but he slipped on the wet turf, and his kick dribbled to the

Padeadores goalie.

It was the first missed penalty kick for Ochoa in a league match.

The momentum slipped away from Laguna too, as a fatigued squad

surrendered two more goals to the Padeadores late in the game.

MKSC 1, Laguna Beach 0

This battle at El Morro School in Laguna Beach brought together

the first- and second-place teams in the league standings.

Laguna was on the move early in the match when forward Brice

Manning stole the ball at midfield and threaded his way through the

MKSC defense. Manning’s shot, however, bounced of the top of the

post.

MKSC couldn’t counter on consecutive corner kicks, which were

headed and cleared out by Laguna sweeper Paolo Noppenberger and

fullback Logan Warren.

Key defensive play by fullbacks Aaron Tang, Luke Barker and Rex

Kelly allowed Laguna to hold MKSC to a scoreless tie at the half.

In the second half, Laguna fullback Zack LeBon came up with a big

stop in a two-on-one situation.

LeBon came up with a sliding tackle to strip the ball away from

one of those players, which denied MKSC a scoring opportunity.

LeBon, in turn, released an up-field pass along the sideline and

found open midfielder Brian Vail. Vail spun off his defender and

launched a shot from 30 yards out, but the ball sailed over the top

post.

Late in the match, Laguna midfielders Ethan Cochran and Trey

Franklin left the game due to injuries. Before the end of regulation,

MKSC forward Grady Howe found the Laguna net with a solid shot near

the near post that just escaped a diving keeper, Alex Iannotti.

Laguna takes on rival Laguna Niguel Soccer Club this weekend.