LJ b soccer 3, Mission Bay 1

Viking defender Jack MacDorman, with a heavy wrap

on a thumb injured in practice Wednesday, contests

the ball in the first half against the Bucs.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

There's excitement around the La Jolla High boys soccer program as the early season is underway.

The Vikings, defending CIF Division 4 champs, traveled a long way to Steele Canyon for their opener Tues., Nov. 29, and soundly defeated the host Cougars 4-2 despite the fact several key players were not in the lineup.

"We had a good flow to it. Good passes, good finishes, good opportunities," remarked head coach Marcos Gonzales before La Jolla's second game Thurs., Dec. 1, at Mission Bay. For Gonzales, that is high praise, because he is not an individual given to effusive praise normally.

With a quintet of starters--including their captains, Jack Barone and Marco Furlanis--shagging practice kicks before the game, not suited up due to club team issues and a concussion, La Jolla proceeded to barrel past the Buccaneers 3-1 under increasingly graying skies in the late afternoon. The decisive nonleague win only served to feed expectations for this season even further.

Thirty-one minutes into the match, with the Vikings slugging along, down 1-0 after an early burst with ball possession and momentum, backup goalie Kevin Mojica made a diving save to block a penalty kick.

Teammates whooped in response, and the visitors were visibly ignited as the offense instantly picked up energy, resulting in senior Andrew Estrella's goal two minutes later to knot the score.

This came after newcomer Luis Goehler's attempt was blocked. La Jolla was suddenly on the attack.

Forward Lukas Keeling (right) puts his hands on his

head in disbelief after a shot attempt narrowly

misses midway through the second half.

You could see Mojica, who gave up a goal in the second half at Steele Canyon soon after being inserted to replace starter Gordon Baesel, had a little swagger and felt like he belonged following the dramatic save. His teammates gave him props, too.

The half ended, 1-1. Emiliano Godinez, who played on the freshman basketball team last year, scored 24 minutes into the second half for the second La Jolla goal.

Lukas Keeling, chomping on the bit after some near misses earlier, was awarded a penalty kick four minutes later and made good. He goofy-footed his kick toward the left half of the goal, while Mission Bay's goalie guessed right. The Vikings led, 3-1.

First-string goalie Tai Nguyen is in the concussion protocol. The other four standing on the sidelines are all awaiting the okay to play after club team issues: Takumi Nishikawa, a senior midfielder who sounded like a good assistant coach at halftime, and Grant Wagner, a sophomore back, besides Barone, a senior midfielder, and Furlanis, a junior. Barone is a Cornell commit.

As a reward for their second win, Gonzales gave them Friday off with no practice.

Shortly, Keeling gets vindication

as he scores on a penalty kick 28 minutes

into the second half to put the Vikings up,

3-1.