Men's soccer team beats Moorpark in opener
Aug 30, 2006
Freshman forward Louis Miguel made quite a debut for the Irvine Valley men’s soccer team on Wednesday.
Miguel, out of San Clemente High, scored two goals in the final two minutes of the match to help lift Irvine Valley a 3-1 victory in the team’s home opener over Moorpark.
“We played well,” Irvine Valley Coach Martin McGrogan said. “We’ve had two scrimmages before this (a 2-0 loss at Yavaipa College in Arizona and a 1-0 win at Glendale). It was nice to be back on our home field and get a win.”
The match was tied, 1-1, heading into the final minutes when Miguel scored after knocking in a ball that was loose in the box.
Freshman midfielder Juan Robles did most of the work in setting up the goal. He took the ball all the way from the right side of the field to the left, beating three Moorpark players along the way.
Just before reaching the top of the box, Robles fired a pass toward goal.
Freshman forward Jose Villalobos was there to take the pass and put a shot on frame. Moorpark goalie Emilio Miranda saved Villalobos’ attempt.
But Miguel was in the right place to knock home the go-ahead goal.
Not more than 30 seconds later Miguel received a pass from Robles at the top of the box. He turned and fired a shot that beat Miranda into the right upper corner of the goal to cap the scoring for the Lasers.
“He has got a lot of talent,” McGrogan said of Miguel. “His second goal was a very good goal. He should do quite well for us.”
Irvine Valley got off to a rough start in the match. Moorpark scored less than two minutes into the contest. Robbie Hector scored the goal for the Raiders.
“We were totally caught off guard there,” McGrogan said. “I am not sure what we were doing.”
But Irvine Valley dominated the match after the opening 10 minutes and especially in the second half. The Lasers tied the game in the 18th minute when Villalobos scored off a pass from freshman midfielder Sina Alipour.
Villalobos nearly scored a minute earlier, but his shot from close range hit off the crossbar.
Irvine Valley had numerous chances to score in the second half.
The Lasers out-shot Moorpark, 11-1, in the final 45 minutes.
Freshman forward Mark Skillin hit the post with two shots in the second half.
Overall, Irvine Valley out-shot Moorpark, 20-7, in the match.
“I think we worked hard and tried to keep our shape the whole way,” McGrogan said. “We made a couple of lineup changes along the way to match up with them better physically and I think once we did that we started to play some soccer and we were OK.”
Sophomore Xavier Garay made the start in goal for the Lasers. And freshman Jesus Olivera played the second half in goal. Both goalies made one save.
Irvine Valley was set to compete this weekend in the Hartnell Tournament. The Lasers open in the tournament on Friday against Canada College.
The Lasers’ next home game is Friday, Sept. 8 against Compton at 1 p.m.
Notes: Irvine Valley’s starting lineup in the match on Wednesday included Miguel and Villalobos as the forwards, David Galant, Greg Ricks, Mark Shadrack and Alipour as midfielders and Troy Cole, Christian Correa-Henschki, Scott Kea and Ivan Grigorov as defenders. Garay was in goal.
“We’ve used different lineups in our two scrimmages and then in this game,” McGrogan said. “We are trying to get everyone in to see what they can do. We are still trying to sort some things out. But I was very happy with how well the guys worked together today.”