Mesa strikes quickly

COSTA MESA — Three quick flicks in just three seconds made the difference for Costa Mesa High.

The Mustangs struggled to coordinate any sort of offensive rhythm in the first half of a nonleague boys’ soccer game against Newport Harbor Friday.

But with 12 minutes remaining, Costa Mesa scored the game-winning goal because of something that had been missing for much of the previous 68 minutes: passing.

The Mustangs defeated the Sailors, 1-0, for their first win of the season. Meanwhile, Newport Harbor remains in search of its first victory.

“It makes it sweet when you win a game — exclamation mark — whether it was Newport or anybody,” Costa Mesa Coach Eugene Day said. “That’s the thing we want to do.”

Junior forward Benjamin Briseño took a pass from freshman forward Arturo Delgado and kicked it into the bottom right corner of the net as Sailors’ goalkeeper Ben Swift was diving in the opposite direction.

Friday’s win ties Costa Mesa (1-2-1) with Estancia in the chase for the Newport-Mesa Cup. Estancia beat Newport Harbor, 1-0, Dec. 5, and none of the teams have played Corona del Mar yet.

While solid defense and a few precarious saves by German Briseño kept the game tied, 0-0, the Mustangs had trouble holding on to the ball long enough to find the goal.

“When we play a game, it’s like, ‘I wanna daaaaance with the ball,’ ” Day said in a sing-song voice, wiggling his hips. “No. The ball wants to dance on somebody else’s foot.

“That’s what they don’t have up here.” Day pointed to his head. “It’s not the physique. It’s what they’re thinking. They’re thinking about the dribble.”

Despite outshooting Costa Mesa, 19-6, Newport Harbor (0-3-1) simply couldn’t find the net. German Briseño finished with 11 saves, while Newport Harbor’s ’keepers had two.

“We’ve been playing good,” Newport Harbor Coach Ryan Hernandez said. “We definitely played a lot better than Costa Mesa today. We just don’t have a goal scorer.”

Day is hoping the message of success through good, quick passing will stick with the Mustangs through the season.

“It’s called ‘The Beautiful Game’ because of the passing,” Day said. “It’s not about Pele or anybody dribbling through 11 players. It’s the [pass] because that’s what the keep-away is about. You keep the ball away from the other team and they run around like crazy.”

Each of the Sailors’ losses this season have been close, with Newport Harbor falling by just one goal. Newport Harbor tied University when junior forward Innocente Tellez scored the Sailors’ only goal of the season Dec. 12.

“He’ll come around,” Hernandez said. “He’s going to start scoring goals.”

However, the team’s injuries, not its scoring problems, have been of more concern to Hernandez.

Senior forward Will Reichenstein, whom Hernandez called the team’s best forward, took over goalkeeping duties for the majority of Friday’s game.

Reichenstien played goalie because starter Kyle Evans suffered what could possibly be a season-ending knee injury when he collided with a teammate in practice. Evans is expected to get a magnetic resonance imaging scan this week.

The Sailors were also missing sophomore defender Rodrigo Rubalcaba because of a broken arm and sophomore forward Joel Gonzalez had a sprained ankle.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].