By Ed Piper, Jr.
Attending an event at the San Diego Jewish Academy can be a rare experience. This reporter has only been there once before, several years ago to cover a football game.
There is no sign from the outside telling you that you are approaching the campus. Google Maps was indicating "Done" before the driver found the access road to the athletic fields.
But once inside, past the security checkpoint, La Jolla's assistant soccer coach, Victor Zendejas, enjoyed a thunderous welcome, with members of his club team who attend the school crowding around him and shouting, "Victor! Victor!"
Zendejas is a bigger-than-life personality, warm, joking, a complement to quieter head coach Marcos Gonzales. Across the field on the Lions' sideline, Zendejas' "best friend", Manny Diaz, greeted him. "We grew up together. He was in my wedding," said the Viking assistant.
In fact, the two starred in soccer at La Jolla: Diaz was goalie on the 1986 and 1987 teams while Zendejas was a central defender.
The Viking players stepped onto a field whose surface they said was "fantastic", into the atmosphere virtually of a soccer friendly. Here, La Jolla features senior Lukas Keeling, who played for the U.S. Academy last year, while SDJA is much younger, with several sophomores. It has a tiny pool of students to form its team from. There was no way this was going to be an even match.
But that can be the beauty of high school sports. Besides the friendship between coaches, behind the secure fences maybe something greater was going on.
La Jolla quickly broke off to a 2-0 lead, with Luis Goehler taking a Keeling assist for an easy tap into the right side of the goal behind the surprised goalie seven minutes into the match.
Three minutes later, Brando Diaz followed with the Vikings' second goal, set up by Andrew Estrella. Diaz had a big grin on his face as he accepted hand slaps from teammates.
The lead increased to 5-nil by halftime, Goehler and Estrella, the latter twice, blasting in kicks.
On the Lions' bench--their colors are the traditional light blue and white--a player gamely exhorteed his teammates, "If they score five, we can score more."
One of the treasures to enjoy was Keeling's easy movement, with or without the ball. "We have Lukas," said Zendejas after the 7-2 final. A simple statement. In the easy match, he appeared to be unhurried, though quick to the ball when he needed to be.
He seemed to be at ease, with nothing to prove. Lukas' teammates comment on his fluidity and ability with the ball. Even to a non-soccer person, it is apparent that there is something more here. He doesn't waste motion. He doesn't need to impress.
Keeling finally scored nine minutes into the second half, for 6-1, after Jewish Academy scored on a penalty kick. Late in the game, with the outcome long decided, Keeling faced off with a much smaller defender. The two tangled going after the ball, with the more diminutive one flipping over Keeling's knee. The boy's father called from the stands in Spanish for a yellow card, but none was awarded.
SDJA sneaked a penalty kick past keeper Tai Nguyen, playing his first game after being under the concussion protocol. Captain Marco Furlanis and senior Takumi Nishikawa also made their debuts this season, after the completion of their club teams' schedules. Furlanis' co-captain, senior Jack Barone, still has to wait until next week for him to be eligible following club team play.
Brando Diaz punched another goal in with 6:13 left on the scoreboard clock in regulation time to complete the scoring at 7-2.
"I thought it was good," said Furlanis, for the team's first game with Nguyen, Nishikawa, and himself. "The team was good. It was solid, passed the ball around." Individually, asked how he felt in his first game back, he said, "Good. It's a lot different from club."
Furlanis seems to take his newly-named status as a team captain seriously.
"I told our captains," said Zendejas, "we're not here to delegate (give commands). We're not here to micro-manage." Continued the assistant coach, "The seniors are passing things along to the younger players."
Nishikawa was almost emotional after the game. "It was good to play with the high school team again. Individually, I did my thing on the left with Lukas. I've known him a long time. I got to wear the captain's armband. That means a lot, playing four years and being a senior."
Regarding the fine grass on the SDJA field, Zendejas, "Quite a field, isn't it? You don't see fields like that anymore."
Jose Bello and Max Leonard held down the defense in front of Nguyen, along with Gordon Baesel and Furlanis.
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