Eagles’ speed too hot to handle

COSTA MESA — Match a speedy boys’ soccer team against a squad with big players, and there are likely to be some pretty painful collisions.

Case in point: there were eight yellow cards issued in Friday’s game that pitted Estancia High against Corona del Mar. In the end, however, the Eagles sped away in the second half to a 3-1 nonleague win over their Newport-Mesa District counterpart at Estancia.

The offense of Estancia (1-2-1), predicated on ball control and through passes, appeared to bother the Sea Kings (1-4) at times.

“I felt that they were a little nervous coming into this game,” said Eagles senior forward Denny Perdomo, who scored two goals. “We had to take advantage of that. We’ve been sleeping in the rest of our games so far. We don’t want to be known as underachievers, so we felt like we had to get a win here at home.”

Perdomo scored in the 13th minute, knocking the ball past the diving Sea Kings goalie on the left side after an aggressive run by teammate Edgar Rodriguez was stopped.

But the game got sloppy after that. In an eight-minute span late in the first half, four yellow cards were issued — two on each team.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” Estancia Coach Gannon Burks told his team. “No more fouls.”

The Eagles obliged, but still led by just a single goal at halftime.

“We were getting too many cards,” Burks said. “If you get two yellows it’s a red, and we have too many important games coming up for that. I just told my guys to out-hustle them and not play dirty … That’s not my style.”

Corona del Mar Coach Pat Callaghan didn’t like all of the bookings either.

“It’s not good for anybody,” Callaghan said. “It’s not good for the coaches, it’s not good for the fans and it’s not good for the parents. I don’t know what it is; it seems to get heated and out of hand. The referee has a hard time controlling the game, and we’re a big team. It’s tough for us.”

Callaghan was also frustrated because he thought, up until the day of the game, that it was scheduled to be played at CdM. The Sea Kings mistakenly had the game listed as a home game on their schedule.

“It was a frustrating situation from the beginning,” he said. “We thought we were playing at home, and we had to drive over here in four different cars. Half our team arrived after the game began.”

The late arrival for some of the Sea Kings didn’t seem to have an effect on the game. The Eagles didn’t really gain an advantage until the 52nd minute. That’s when Perdomo gave Estancia a two-goal lead, connecting on a shot from just beyond 30 yards out. Perdomo’s bending shot curved into the top of the net.

Burks said he’s been telling his team it’s fine to shoot from far away, and so Perdomo’s second goal made the coach smile.

“If you’re not taking shots, you’re not going to get goals,” Burks said. “He just lined it up and got a nice bender. That’s a shot you love to see as a coach.”

But CdM responded in the 53rd minute. The Eagles couldn’t clear out Brian Burke’s free kick, and Paolo Iaccarino tapped the ball in at the far post to cut the Sea Kings’ deficit in half.

“I was very happy with our team in the second half,” Callaghan said. “The first half had no flow whatsoever, but we started to play better soccer … [Estancia’s] just a good team. They deserved to win today.”

Estancia bounced back in the 70th minute. After a CdM yellow card, the ensuing Eagles free kick from Eric Duarte was nailed perfectly to the far post, where Edgar Rodriguez headed it in to seal the intense game.

“It wasn’t Costa Mesa, but they’re still in our school district,” Rodriguez said. “We played as a team, and we won as a team. They were totally getting frustrated.”

From there, the Eagles continued to frustrate CdM with their often precision passing. Burks said it was nice to see, especially after Estancia went a disappointing 0-2 in the Millikan Tournament on Saturday.

“That’s the name of our game, and that’s what we teach,” Burks said. “The longer you can hold the ball, the better chances you’ll get down the road.”

CdM goalie Aman Sahni and Estancia goalie Daniel Calderon both made seven saves in the game. Eagles center midfielder Jose Rodriguez had to be carted off late in the game with an apparent knee injury, the extent of which wasn’t known immediately after the game.

The game was also the first in the boys’ Newport-Mesa Cup series.

However, since the area boys’ soccer teams weren’t able to schedule a full inaugural Newport-Mesa Cup like the girls, a modified format will be used.

Costa Mesa plays Newport Harbor on Dec. 11, CdM plays Newport Harbor on Dec. 22 and Costa Mesa faces Estancia on Jan. 19 in the other three Newport-Mesa Cup games of record.