Senior James Penner (19) returns to the Vike lineup after
a long respite to help spearhead a big win over UC.
(Photos by Ed Piper)
On a cold night on a surface that is scheduled to be torn from its moorings in less than two months, La Jolla touched up visiting UC for an early goal by Noah Shen, then after a respite the Vikings piled on with three goals within 16 minutes in the second half to blast the Centurions, 4-0, Thurs., Feb. 5.
"Mercurial," one observer called the Viking boys' big shutout win after a reverse by the same margin in their previous game at Point Loma.
Players and coaches were light-hearted and pleased going into halftime with a 1-nil lead. Assistant coach Victor Zendejas admonished players, "Let's not get overconfident."
But the cockiness led within minutes to the first of two scores by Andrew Estrella to put La Jolla up 2-0. That goal came in about the 48th minute (6:27 p.m. after a 5:30 start).
Then, at 6:42 p.m., Estrella stood straight out 10 yards in front of the net on a rebounding ball that arched high in the air. When it came down, he clobbered it to the left of Christian Lathrop, UC's goalkeeper, and the rout was on.
Unofficially, Estrella, a sophomore, leads La Jolla with six goals this season.
The fourth goal, by Jared Roberts in garbage time, came a minute later. By then, Zendejas and head coach Marcos Gonzales were conferring on who else to substitute in, as virtually the entire roster saw action in the victory.
Ole Cassidy (22), Viking student from
Norway, played a notable game against
the Centurions.
"We played as a complete team for the first time and our chemistry showed in how we dominated every part of the game," said James Penner. "Everyone stepped up big and played well. It was a great team effort and I hope it (is) a sign of how the second half of the season will go."
The Vikings didn't make the finish easy for themselves or goalkeeper Alexei Sebald, facing numerous near-misses in attempts on their goal by UC in waning minutes.
There is the phenomenon in soccer in which one team, after scoring a goal or more, suddenly plays with all the confidence of winners, while at the same time the opposing team loses all its gas and becomes extremely vulnerable to another score.
This is what happened between the second and third goals by LJHS. Nothing changed physically, except increased epinephrine shooting into Viking players' veins. It was all psychological. The Vikings went on the attack, and the Centurions became more porous and their defense more of a sieve. It didn't require a single substitution to effect the change.
You can't quite see the mental aspect as clearly in some other sports as in soccer. Maybe lacrosse is comparable in sudden changes of what we call momentum. But lacrosse also can change from one minute to the next in which team has the upper hand, the psychological advantage. In soccer, the flow of one team lasts for a longer period of time, and the shift isn't as quick.
In both sports the ball is put right back into play after a team's goal. This is where the follow-up attack can be mounted to try to score another goal quickly on the heels of the first one.
One athlete has talked about his team's two-minute rule, in which they try to exploit the other team's vulnerability right after a goal by adding another one. There is a window of opportunity, and if a team waits, it is probably lost.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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