By Ed Piper
Behind six goals each by seniors West Gartland and center Soren Martin, La Jolla executed to perfection and limited Helix, a number-five seed, with a pressure defense in a convincing 16-8 win in the CIF Open Division quarterfinals Wednesday night, Nov. 1, at Coggan Pool on the LJHS campus.
Coach Tom Atwell's team, enjoying the new, refreshing feeling of playing in their home facility before a home crowd--although the Highlanders had a large traveling contingent of fans from East County in attendance, as well--steadily kept up their offensive attack, as Gartland scored three of the Vikings' first four goals.
Coggan Pool, newly renovated over the past four months with new deck cement, new plaster in the pool, and a new, larger hot tub, just opened to play last Monday, Oct. 23, for a regular-season game between La Jolla and Valhalla.
Martin, grinding from the center position, netted the team's third, fifth, and sixth goals against Helix goalie Esequiel "Zeke" Antunez. The Vikings led 4-3 at the end of the first quarter, then exploded in the second period with five goals, limiting their opponents to a single goal, to post a 9-4 halftime lead. Vike goalkeeper Vinny Vega played no small part in blocking Helix's attempts.
In the decisive second, goals were spread among Martin (two), Davis Parr, Gartland, and Levi Epperson.
La Jolla never looked back. The lead was 12-5 after three quarters, then 15-7 on Martin's sixth goal, as Atwell cleared the pool of his starting rotation and let the backups enjoy the last 2:19 before the large playoff crowd.
The Vikes earned the right to face Cathedral Catholic, the number-one seed, in the Open semifinals Tues., Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. The Dons struggled to put a feisty Rancho Bernardo squad away, 15-11, in Wednesday's first game.
Bishop's, the number-two seed, swamped Poway, 14-7, in the late evening game at 7:45 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment