Eagles escape with win

Rick Devereux

In soccer, sometimes all that matters is the final outcome.

The Estancia High boys soccer team did not play its best but

walked away with a 4-3 victory over Orange in the Golden West League

opener for the Eagles, who secured their first win of the season

Wednesday at TeWinkle Middle School.

The Eagles play nonleague visitor Santa Ana Valley today at

TeWinkle at 3 p.m.

“I was a little worried [about the outcome],” first-year Coach

Gannon Burks said. “But a win is a win. There is always room for

improvement.”

Estancia (1-3-1) jumped ahead early when junior midfielder Pedro

Duarte gathered the ball on the right side of the 18-yard box and

fired a shot to the left goal post that evaded the Panthers’ diving

goalkeeper in the second minute.

“We started the game well with that goal,” senior co-captain Cesar

Gonzalez said. “But we got the goal and then we got too confident and

let them take the game to us.”

Orange sent long ball after long ball into the Estancia zone.

The Panthers drew a foul from Estancia that set up a penalty-kick

attempt.

Goalie Marco Burciaga made a diving save to his left on the kick,

but Orange’s Jesus Rodriguez sent the rebound to the top shelf to tie

the game in the 13th minute.

“They were pushing up on defense, so we tried to open up the

defense and create more space by going to the wings,” senior

midfielder Rafael Hernandez said.

The adjustment worked, as the Eagles started to play more of an

attacking style, which created fouls by Orange and free kicks for

Estancia.

Hernandez gathered a free kick by Jose Perez inside the penalty

area, turned and fired a shot that squeezed inside the left post to

give Estancia a 2-1 lead in the 38th minute.

The Eagles opened up a commanding 3-1 lead in the 15th minute of

the second half when sophomore Denny Perdomo rushed a loose ball and

bounced it to the back of the net off the crossbar.

Gonzalez sent the ball from a free kick toward the net. The Orange

goalkeeper stopped but did not control the shot, allowing Perdomo to

score.

David Aguilar gave the Panthers some momentum when he fired his

free kick inside the left post to pull Orange within one in the 58th

minute.

The Eagles scored again in the 68th minute. Gonzalez was given

credit for the game-winning goal even though the last player to touch

the ball was wearing a Panthers’ jersey.

Gonzalez lofted a corner kick that bounced off an Orange player’s

head and into the net.

Aguilar made a last run for the Panthers when his shot from inside

the penalty area went over the goalkeeper’s head for the 4-3 final

score in the 80th minute.

“We played with more enthusiasm today,” senior sweeper Geo Macias

said. “We sat down as a team [Tuesday] and opened up. We talked about

how we had been playing. We played much better today.”