LJ b soccer: 'Really young'

Senior Ricky Cabrera, goalie for La Jolla High,

warms up at halftime before playing the second

half at Lincoln in a scrimmage Mon., Nov. 14.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

 

By Ed Piper

Pilar Flores, the new boys soccer coach at La Jolla, was impressed with how hard his players worked, but allowed as how "they're really young", after a refereed scrimmage Mon., Nov. 14, at Lincoln High.

"I coached in the LJ-Lincoln game last year," said the La Jolla High alumnus and La Jolla youth soccer coaching veteran. "They scored a goal early in the game, and the other team had to work hard to come back from that (psychologically)," he said in a phone conversation Wed., Nov. 16.

This particular matchup ended up in a 0-0 tie after the first half. Marley LaFond, a junior in goal for the Vikings, was active, aggressive, and leaping high for a long kick that came his way during the first half.

"Marley's a really good athlete," said his new coach. "We're fortunate to have two really good goalies, Marley and Rickey Cabrera (a senior)." Cabrera played the second half against the Hornets.

Flores noted Liz Munoz-coached Lincoln "is pretty seasoned."

He talked about the fact Viking seniors Koji Sakamoto, a returning defender, and Roman Altamirano, a returning midfielder, among others, are still restricted from playing for their school team because of their club team responsibilities. Jet Kyle, a sophomore playing up top, still has club commitments as well.

Not too long ago, CIF instituted rules about student athletes playing for both club and school team. It allowed athletes to play for both, but not at the same time. It prevented students from being restricted from not playing for their school team the whole season, or for their club team exclusively.

Pilar returned to the issue of his team being young. "There's a huge difference from JV and varsity," he said. "There's the strain of playing at night (under the lights, as Monday).

"I thought were some mistakes and nervousness" in the scrimmage that led to errors.

Regarding La Jolla's tentatively scheduled scrimmage against Bishop's Thurs., Nov. 17, Flores said, "That's up in the air. CIF has a rule about time between scrimmages. I didn't know that."

He said the scrimmage may go ahead. "Their (Bishop's) JV and varsity teams are mixed right now."