Estancia holds off Sharks

COSTA MESA — Robert Castellano said he experienced one of his longest workdays at the start of the week.

The Estancia High boys’ soccer coach waited for the release of the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoff pairings on Monday. The delay had to do with whether the Eagles were going to be in or out of the postseason.

Allegations surfaced that Estancia illegally used a player who played for an adult club team during the high school season. Castellano said the allegations, which came from rival Costa Mesa, were false.

“I started getting nervous when they started taking a long time to go through the divisions, the division pairings, because they were waiting,” said Castellano, whose team looked to be cleared of any wrongdoing.

The Eagles got in after there were no violations. Castellano waited for this moment and you would understand why.

Castellano played in the playoffs with Estancia in the late 1990s. In the following decade, he went on to assist the Eagles in the playoffs.

For the first time in an Estancia postseason match, Castellano ran the show from the sideline. The performance at home Thursday went as planned.

Castellano guided Estancia to a 2-1 first-round victory against Malibu. The first-year man was all smiles.

“It feels good,” Castellano said of winning his playoff debut as the head coach. “It’s special.”

Having three players Castellano coached as an assistant on his staff now made the night unique. Assistants Pedro Duarte, Eddie Ruvalcaba and Cesar Gonzalez helped Castellano lead the Eagles into the second round.

Orange Coast League champion Estancia (14-8-3) plays Tuesday against La Mirada (20-0-4), the second-place team out of the Suburban League. A coin flip today determines which school plays host to the game.

Getting by Malibu (9-8-2) proved to be more difficult than expected for Estancia. Castellano said the allegations weren’t a distraction for the team. He just needed to settle his players down after a scoreless first half.

Some hustle gave the Eagles the lift they needed early in the second half.

Estancia’s Ricardo Esquivel and Carlos Moreno pelted the goalkeeper with back-to-back shots. Raul Martinez went on his knees, stopping each line drive, but he couldn’t rise fast enough to keep Martin Garcia from scoring.

Garcia got a rebound and put it away, giving Estancia a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute. Two minutes later, JJ Rodriguez recorded a beauty, bringing the crowd to its feet.

On a direct free kick, from the edge of the left side of the box, the senior bended a shot. The keeper stood no chance, and a ladder wouldn’t have helped Martinez stop the ball from finding the upper-right corner of the net.

Rodriguez said he knew he was going to score before putting Estancia up, 2-0. The Eagles scratched a play before Rodriguez’ free kick and he’s glad they did.

“We were going to do one of the plays that we do in practice, but one of the [defenders] followed me,” Rodriguez said. “We were going to do a set play. When the guy goes down for the ball, I’m acting like I’m going to tie my shoe, and then … I get a free shot.”

The Sharks had one last shot to tie it late.

From 50 yards out, Cully Smoller, who scored in the 65th minute, blasted a direct free kick that was bound to go in. As Estancia keeper Edgar Vega leaped and pushed the ball above the crossbar, clearing it out of danger, Castellano jumped.

He breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled. The hectic workweek was over.