Laguna blemishes Irvine’s record

In their first 11 games of the season, the Irvine Strikers had

dominated the opposition by outscoring their foes, 44-6, en route to

an unbeaten start.

But last Saturday, they found a formidable foe in Laguna, which

battled the Silver South Division’s top team to a 1-1 tie in boys’ under-13 action.

Outstanding passing and teamwork allowed Laguna to control much of

the first half.

Brian Schriver, Shane Springer, Trey Whitaker and Josh Wells

played well in the midfield and provided scoring opportunities for

Austin Hyden, Keegan Valaika and Matt Miller.

Defensively, Charles Moothart, Michael Tachovsky, Marshall Thomas,

Brett Hardy and Jared Berkson kept the Strikers’ high-powered offense

at bay, and Devin Hands had an outstanding game in goal.

Yet Laguna gave up a goal midway through the first half to the

Strikers and fell behind, 1-0, but rallied to earn a 1-1 tie by

halftime when Valaika scored off an assist from Hyden.

Laguna has a busy weekend ahead.

On Saturday they square off against Wolfpack Blue at Wolfpack

Field in Huntington Beach at 8:15 a.m. in the team’s final Silver

South Division regular season game.

On Sunday, Laguna will begin Coast Soccer League Cup play with two

games at Blast Complex in San Bernardino. They play South Bay Force

at 8 a.m., before a 2 p.m. contest with Simi Valley Eclipse.