Kinder goes for three

Cole Kinder scored three touchdowns to help lead the Costa Mesa Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee Eagles Silver team to a 31-8 win against the Santa Margarita Mustangs.

Kinder opened the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown. Zack Swies, Mason Lindh, Nick Fiola, Anthony De La Torre, Jonathan Muise and Nick Torres contributed on the offensive line. Christian Ferrara opened another hole for Kinder to score his second long TD.

Eric Enright and Andre Laidlaw were strong on defense. Steven Muise shut down Mustang receivers. Gage Roberson threw a touchdown pass before halftime. Rashaan Burns, Christian Featherston, Trenton Raines and Enright all got to carry the ball.

Pasadena 26, Eagles Black 6

The Eagles suffered their first loss of the season in the semifinals of the Orange Empire Conference, losing to the undefeated Trojans.

Christian Baskharoon recovered a fumble for the Eagles, while teammates David Atencio and defensive end Charlie Godshall helped cause the turnover.

Also on defense Deshandre Kerkhoff, Gasper Ramirez, Kainoa Korionoff, and Hunter Mensinger had solid tackles.

Sam Swanson helped lead the offense to multiple first downs.

Newport-Mesa Junior All-American

Jr. Midget Division

Seahawks 22, Garden Grove 14

 Written by Colin McDuffy:

As the season winds down to an end, the Newport Mesa Seahawks are still improving. The Seahawks’ bench had many injuries the past few weeks, but they still pulled it together to win. The offensive backfield, led by quarterback Chase Forrest, fought hard to score points and to drive the ball down the field. Running backs Ryan Taormina, Jake Favreau and Ricky Zak, established a very dominating running game, while wide receivers Adam Davis, Cole Chapin, Spencer Lujan and Jack Menzia were off to the races as each had several receptions.

Given ample time from an offensive line of Colin Duffy, Timmy Strader, Blake Bauer, Grant Moore and Nick Landstrom, Forrest could easily make his decision on where to take the play.

The defense stopped Garden Grove’s Wildcat formation and power offense. Led by linebackers Forrest, Moore and Jordan Binder, the defense shut down the Falcons’ inside run game. The defensive line of Davis, Christian Rice, Kent Ham and Blake Henson, gave the Falcon running backs no choice but to bounce outside where they were soon tackled by the corners Matthew “Chewy” Deverian and Cory Stowell, free safety Alex Moore or outside linebackers Taormina, Charlie Griffin and Cole Martin.

AYSO Region 97

Girls Under 12

Green Hornets 5, Killer Soccer Balls 0: The first goal was made by Carly Van Oostendorp, second by Julianna Eifler, third by Mackenzie Mowery, fourth by Lexi Van Oostendorp, and the final goal by Kylee Seeber. Holly Halperin and Lani Kerrigan made great kicks. Olivia Blanda, Haley Datt, Kailey Hambek, Ashley Obuljen and Brelynn Viloria showed skilled offensive footwork assisting in every shot. On defense, Chloe Hyde and Jessalyn Andres prevented every attempt from Killer Soccer Balls from making successful shots.

Patriots 3, Blue Triangles 0: Marisa scored the first goal. Mari Duerr scored off an assist from Callie Spooner, who scored the third goal. Megan Keys had the assist.

Boys Under 12

The Red Team 5, Silver Bullets 1: Sargis Srapyan scored four goals to help the Red Team to their sixth straight win. Griffin Burke scored after an assist from Maxwell Spruill. Forwards Alex Michaelson, Corbin Joyce and Cooper Peters played well, while Liam Tough, Spencer Swanson and Sean Arnold were strong on defense. Sohrob Goodarzy, Henry Levis and Micheal Nieto controlled the midfield. Brian Shaw applied constant pressure.

Boys Under 10

Orange Crush 1, Newport FC 1: Jonny Rimlinger scored the lone Orange Crush goal. Connor Spence, Garrett Gritzmacher, Jack White and Scott Ryder combined for seven shots on goal. Goalies Jack White, Ryan Pham and Garrett Gritzmacher defended against six shots on goal. Quinn Richards made some good traps and charged the defense with excellent dribbling, while Marcus Croxson won the ball from his opponents several times. Gage Greenberg played tirelessly in the game in both midfield and defensive positions. Newport FC captains Hunter Bostwick and Jack Pitchess led the team. Pitchess scored and has scored in every regular-season match. Midfielder play by Julian Hernandez, Thomas Vredenburgh, Garrett Gendron and Bostwick helped secure an upper bracket playoff spot. Bobby Schulze moved like a butterfly and Kyle Burger stung like a bee. The stingy defensive and keeper performance of Lucas Mowery, Justan Gizer and John Bush was invaluable. This week’s Game Ball honors went to Bush.

Boys Under 7

Red Dragons vs. Bobcats: The Red Dragon defense was put to the test early as the Bobcats eventually got one in just before halftime. Justin McCoy, Brandon Kincaid and Devin Fairchild with some great footwork kept the defense strong. It was Aedan Skellern and Evan Langston working at keeping the midfield momentum up as Thomas Stobart, Tim Badum and Cole Sukow had some scoring opportunities. It was a truly evenly played match with a late scoring drive by the Bobcats just before the final whistle.

Fighter Jets vs. Green Gorillas: The Fighter Jets displayed their skills in every aspect of their game against the Green Gorillas. On defense, Joseph Whelan and Marcus Miller played tough, keeping the ball away from the Gorilla goal with many stops and turns. Jerome Snyder had a great save as goalie, as did Richie Rimlinger who was rock-solid and saved a few more. On offense, Dane Voorhees just missed a point when a shot on goal went wide, and made a huge half-field kick to Aidan Gassel, who did shoot one in for a Fighter Jet goal. Kaiyo Freyder and Jake Nellesen both made some great kicks and Finn McClintock covered the field with amazing dribbling and several shots on goal.

Slammers Girls Maintain Lead in Standings

The Slammers Maroon girls’ U-11 soccer team notched two wins this past weekend in Coast Soccer League play.

The Slammers had to come from behind in a thrilling 2-1 win over Wolfpack Soccer Club in their first game played Saturday at Irvine Terrace Park .

Missing their outstanding keeper Destry Comp and center back Bella Goldstein, the Slammers fell behind early in the game to the charged up Wolfpack team. Faith Harper tied the game in the second half off a cross from Kiana Ghamari.

Katarina Freiberger buried the game-winner late in the second half allowing the Slammers to escape from upset bid. Leah Givant was credited with the assist on the game-winner.

The Slammers took the pitch against a fired up North Irvine Soccer Club Sunday at Hicks Canyon in Irvine. Siena Ward (two goals), Emma Scott and Faith Harper scored for the Slammers in a 4-1 win. Scott, Freiberger, Grace Jennings and Katie Dosch were credited with assists. Coach Kirk McIntosh praised the play of his defense led by Shelby Guerena, Jasi Dunk, Grace Vandervort (who also played in goal), Jackie Singer, Paige Fults and Bella Goldstein.

McIntosh credits the ability of the defense to clean up the chaotic style of the competition leading to the Slammer style of controlling ball possession.