Newport Harbor boys’ soccer done in by late goal in regional semifinal

Several players hit the turf during the game, and more still when the final whistle blew.

The Newport Harbor boys’ soccer team — home for as long as its ride in the CIF State Southern California Regional Division III playoffs would last as the top seed — surely hoped for a different fate.

No one would have blamed the Sailors if they lingered a little longer after a 1-0 loss to Bakersfield Foothill on Thursday at Davidson Field.

There was much to soak in, the final moments in a historic season that brought Newport Harbor (20-6-1) its first outright Southern Section title in the Division 2 final and second overall. Five days later, the Sailors were sent home by a bad bounce.

J. Meer Allen’s shot from distance in the 79th minute was the sole scoring strike, the ball changing direction when it ricocheted off an oncoming defender. The fatal strike sent Foothill (21-5-3) back home to host Porterville (27-3-3) in a regional final showdown on Saturday.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to shoot it right then and there,” Allen said of the game-winning goal. “It was more of a relief, more [so] than shock. I felt like we deserved it. We were fighting the whole game.”

Newport Harbor’s Rocco Villarreal (nine saves) and Foothill’s Ivan Canchola (seven saves) had quite the duel of goalkeepers, neither leaving much in the form of loose balls lying around the box.

Canchola said the Trojans had identified senior midfielder Olivier Renard as their primary focus on the defensive end. The Newport Harbor attack had so often gone through Renard on set pieces, especially in the air.

“We made sure to get on his back and double team him at all times,” Canchola said. “We knew that ball was always going to try to go to him because that’s their primary target.”

Villarreal made a number of saves in close quarters, as he was on his angles in net and getting good reads of shots. It was a bounce-back performance from the senior, who let in three second-half goals in the CIF final against Tustin Foothill.

“It’s still bittersweet right now,” Villarreal said. “I think we did great and had a great season, but I don’t like losing.”

Oswaldo Portillo sent a pair of kicks in on goal from the left corner flag in the first half. Beck Brosnan was a dangerous player for the Sailors in the second half, authoring two shots on frame and having two others blocked at the right post just before Allen ended the shutout.

“The energy, the 50-50 balls, things were trending in our direction that second half,” Foothill coach Tyrel Rose said. “It just kind of felt like we were going to get one of them eventually. We’ve kind of done that all year, so it was good to see the boys didn’t get down when we were missing. ‘The next one’s going to go in,’ I felt like that was the attitude.”

Newport Harbor started 10 seniors on Thursday: center back Jack Davey, right back Tomas Becerine, midfielders James Evans, Jake Shubin, Harutyn Kelyan, Portillo and Renard, forwards Beck Brosnan and Eduardo Hopkin, and Villarreal the goalkeeper.

“I’m happy that all the seniors got to play that well for their last game,” Newport Harbor coach Ignacio Cid said. “The last game is one that you remember, and you want to put together a performance that you’re proud of. That, plus a great season, and you can walk away. … You can walk away saying, ‘How much better could we have done it?’”