Ford in driver’s seat

Chris Yemma

Playing in their last Daily Pilot Cup following years of competition,

the Andersen Elementary fifth- and sixth-grade boys soccer team has

approached this year’s tournament with an all-or-nothing attitude.

So far, the “all” part of the motto has panned out.

Brian Ford scored two goals to help lead Andersen, a team of all

sixth-graders, to a 5-2 Gold division victory over Newport Elementary

in a Pool A contest Friday at Costa Mesa Farm Complex.

“It’s go big or go home,” said Ford, who has scored seven of the

team’s 11 goals through four games. “We give 100%. We do our best and

hope it’s good enough.”

It has been good enough to date, as Andersen is 3-0-1, with the

tie coming to Rea 1, a team Coach Dan Ford describes as the best out

there.

“We’re coming off a hard-fought tie against Rea, so we believe we

can compete with anyone,” the elder Ford said before Friday’s

matchup. “We need to build off that game.”

And the team did just that, as Brent Gray, Mitch Gardner and

Brennan Anderson added a goal apiece to help spark an offense that

was on fire throughout the game.

The all-or-nothing attitude was evident early in precision passing

that equated to goals.

In just the seventh minute of regulation, Anderson lofted a corner

kick from the left side across the penalty box and Gray headed it in,

capping a highlight-reel play. Ten minutes later, Gardner finished a

shot Gray had ricocheted off Newport’s goalie and Andersen took a 2-0

lead into halftime.

Newport fired back in the second half, as Brice Viloria scored in

the opening minutes on an assist from Taylor Sims to cut the deficit

to 2-1.

But Ford then came alive, scoring in the 35th minute for a 3-1

lead and two minutes later taking a pass from Anderson, beating the

opposing goalie to the ball and tapping it in to give his team a

solid 4-1 lead.

“On this team, we’ve all played [soccer] before,” Ford said. “We

all know what we’re doing and we all want to win very bad. I’m happy

to contribute, but I’m more happy we won.”

Scott Ridgeway added a goal for Newport with minute remaining,

while Anderson scored in the final seconds to calculate the 5-2

score.

Anderson finished with two assists while Ford finished with one.

Jason Dillion, Chip Zucker, Spencer Haly and Bryce Ashton also

contributed in Andersen’s winning effort.

Viloria and Ridgeway led Newport, while other contributors

included: Nick McCann, C.J. Toma, Zach Eddy, Mason Powers, Michael

Dominguez, Cory Kroeger, Asa Lohn, Max Van Bergh and Taylor Sims.