Vanguard has balloon popped by Eagles

COSTA MESA — Outplaying the opponent in soccer does not always equate to a notch in the win column.

The Vanguard men’s team chalked up a lesson instead of a victory in a 1-0 loss to Concordia University Wednesday.

The Lions were riding a seven-game win streak, allowing one goal, heading into the Golden State Athletic Conference contest. They also had earned a No. 11 ranking in the NAIA early Wednesday.

The teams were supposed to play Tuesday, but due to a lack of officials the game was postponed to Wednesday.

“It’s tough to keep a win streak like that going,” midfielder Brian Vestal said. “We just didn’t execute well. It was a sloppy game.”

Vanguard controlled the ball and the pace throughout the game, but opportunities did not end with a goal.

“We dominated play,” Vanguard Coach Randy Dodge said. “You can dominate from 18 to 18, but we didn’t take chances. We needed a different mind set, someone to take the courage to take those chances.”

Instead, it was the Eagles who took advantage of one of a handful of chances to score. And the Lions were left wondering how it would feel to defeat the defending conference champions.

The proverbial blow came in the 36th minute. That’s when Concordia freshman Jon Fahey took a pass from Ryan Ninke, the Eagles’ lone senior, and popped it over two defenders before meeting the ball on the other side to poke it into the net past goalkeeper William Johnson, who was the GSAC Player of the Week after holding two teams scoreless in the Lions’ two previous games.

Vanguard junior defender Jeffrey Cocca, as the rest of the Lions, saw the opportunity to make a statement become obsolete.

Still, Cocca wasn’t totally impressed with the Eagles.

“That was their one chance,” Cocca said. “To be honest, we controlled most of the game. They caught a lucky break and we couldn’t finish our chances.”

With the defeat, the Lions (8-2, 2-1 in conference) fell out of a tie for first place in the conference.

It was Vanguard’s first loss since falling 1-0 on Sept. 8 to Cumberlands of Kentucky.

“This was our worst game of the season,” Dodge said. “These guys haven’t lost since the first week of the season.”

Having defeated No. 12-ranked Fresno Pacific, 1-0, in the previous game made the loss all the more difficult.

“Fresno was a much better team,” Cocca said. “They had a better front line. Beating Fresno was big for us.”

The competition does not get any easier for the Lions, who hit the road to face No. 3-ranked Azusa Pacific Saturday. But Vanguard is no stranger to upsets when it comes to the Cougars. Last season, Vanguard shut out then-No. 5-ranked Azusa Pacific, 1-0, at home.

“They’re a big rival,” Dodge said. “It’s going to take players taking some ownership and leaders stepping up for us to beat them. It’s a GSAC game. It’s always going to be tough.”

Forward Kantey Locah-Adamagan gave the Lions two scoring opportunities in the final five minutes of the half, but both fell by the wayside.

Locah-Adamagan gained a step on the defense in the 41st minute, but could not catch up to the ball in time to get a shot off. In the final minute, Locah-Adamagan took a pass on left side of the goal, with only the goalkeeper to beat. The 6-foot-1 junior attempted the shot with the outside of his foot and it sailed wide.

“It’s important to get that first goal,” Vestal said. “It puts a little more pressure on you playing from behind. It gives you a little inspiration.”

Before Concordia took the lead Vanguard dominated possession of the ball, doing everything but actually getting a shot off.

In the 27th minute, UC Irvine transfer Andrew Elliott took a pass in the corner, but lost it out of bounds. Shortly thereafter, Vestal took a pass off his chest near the goal box, but lost it out of bounds.

The play prompted Concordia sophomore midfielder Conan Hawkins to say, “We can’t play on one side if we want to win this game.”

But Vanguard continued on. A pass came toward Vestal in the box, but was out of reach and trickled out of bounds. Nelson Rios had the Lions’ best opportunity of the game until that point when he dribbled through the goal, splitting two defenders and had only the goalie to beat. Rios lost control of the ball and Concordia countered.

Vestal passed ahead to Rios in the 31st minute but the centering pass went awry. It trickled out to Anthony Burrola who blasted a shot from 25 yards out over the cross bar. Christian Marston added a shot that went into the awaiting arms of the Concordia goalie.

Vanguard controlled the first half with passes ahead to streaking forwards. In the second half, the Lions’ offense used set pieces to attack, but while they consistently put the ball in the goal box, shots were rare.

In the 67th minute, Burrola hit Marston, who was cutting through the goal box. The shot was deflected wide and the following corner kick produced no results.

Two minutes later, Burrola lobbed a pass into the goal box and a sea of players, but the ball could not be secured and no shot was taken. From that point on, every time the Lions sent a pass into the goal box, Eagles goalie Mike Borst charged through and grabbed the ball.