EL SEGUNDO HERALD March 7, 2019 Page 5
Eagles Win Second Consecutive SoCal Title
Story and Photo by Gregg McMullin
Fresh off their CIF Southern Section Division
3 championship, a 2-1 win over West
Torrance, the El Segundo High School boys
soccer team advanced to the CIF Southern
California Regional Division III playoffs. The
Eagles were seeded first and drew a bye in the
first round. They would handle Alta Loma in
the semifinals and then defeat West Torrance
in the championship game.
The Eagles had already defeated Alta Loma
4-2 in the second round of the CIF-SS Division
3 playoffs before meeting again in the Southern
California Regional. Unlike the first meeting
when the Eagles essentially dominated the
game, their second go-around would prove to
be closer. The two teams missed scoring opportunities
in the first half before Casey Lund’s
goal. El Segundo’s defense would make that
lone score hold up, thanks in part to the back
line play of Logan Pismopulous, Nate Salazar
and Nicholas Sautter.
The Eagles controlled the pace on offense,
but just couldn’t finish off a goal. Denis Vezina
and Caden Schepps were instrumental feeding
the offense, but Malcolm Holtzmann-Cisse
and Jack Finders just couldn’t get clear for a
goal-making shot until Lund did.
The win set up a rematch with West Torrance
-- a team the Eagles defeated in the CIF
Southern Section Division 3 finals. This would
be the third time this season the Eagles and
Warriors would play each other. In the third
game of the season for both teams, the Eagles
defeated the Warriors 1-0. Beating a team three
times in a season is a tough challenge, but the
Eagles were up to the test.
The championship game was played in an
eerie reminder of last season’s match when
the Eagles defeated Hesperia on a cool, rainy
night. This year, El Segundo and West Torrance
battled on rain-soaked turf on a frigid evening.
However, the weather was not a factor and
the speed and physical aspects of the game
entertained the 1,200 fans in attendance.
Since these two teams know each other’s
strengths and weaknesses from the prior two
meetings, the SoCal Regional final tested each
team’s competitiveness. There were five yellow
cards issued, three players hurt badly enough
to be substituted for, and plenty of action on
both sides near the goal. El Segundo goalie
James Amerault had seven saves in the first
half and five more in the second half. Warriors’
goalie Ethan Brandt picked off 13 Eagle
goal attempts.
El Segundo has only trailed twice in a
game all season long. The Eagles fell to Santa
Barbara 2-1 in late December and once to
Lawndale in Ocean League play when they
trailed 1-0 but wound up winning 3-2. The
Warriors’ Matt Ritchey gave his team a 1-0
lead when he powered his shot attempt by an
outstretched Amerault. Ritchey’s goal came
on a free kick after a questionable call near
the goal. It marked the first time the Eagles
would trail in 12 games.
El Segundo pressured the box time and time
again, but came away with nothing. Sam Twigg fed
Finders inside, but the attempt was saved. Finders
passed to Lund inside, but that shot attempt
sailed inches wide. Holtzmann-Cisse, Feeney
and Twigg pressed up the sidelines a number of
times, but their shot attempts were also defended.
El Segundo capitalized on a West Torrance
breakdown to tie the game. In transition down
deep, Twigg was awarded a free kick on the
left side. His kick went high towards the front
of the goal where Finders outleaped the opposition
to head the ball past Brandt at 8:20
of the first half.
The second half would prove to be just as
exciting and competitive as the first -- and
at times even more. Each team stretched the
field with long passes and close-range goal
attempts. It was El Segundo’s staunch defense
that would hold up. Nicholas Sautter and Nate
Salazar interrupted scoring attempts while
Feeney, Finders, Lund and Twigg came down
deep to help out.
West Torrance’s back line was a challenge
to penetrate and with Brandt in goal, scoring
would continue to be scarce for the Eagles. El
Segundo’s relentless push inside finally paid
off. Lund’s goal from inside the box at 25:10
gave the Eagles the eventual winning score.
While Lund’s goal gave the Eagles reason
to celebrate. the game was far from over. The
Warriors, not known for their scoring, continued
to find holes in El Segundo’s defense
to advance the ball near the goal. Amerault
received help from his back line and made
two saves as time was winding down and the
Eagles came away with the win.
This is the second consecutive year Lund
scored the decisive goal in the Southern
California Regional Championship game. Last
season, his goal was the difference-maker during
the penalty kick phase after regulation and
overtime couldn’t produce a victor.
With their historic 25th win of the season, the
Eagles cemented their achievement in school
history. The Eagles finished 25-1-1 overall,
ranked fourth in the nation and second in
California. It is the highest nationally ranked
that any El Segundo team has been since the
1966-67 basketball team was the number one
team in the nation. Their 25 wins was the third
most wins in the country behind top-ranked St.
Paul’s (Covington, LA, 27 wins), second-ranked
San Clemente (26 wins) and third-ranked Jesuit
(New Orleans, LA, 26 wins). El Segundo is
also the only team in California to repeat as
either the CIF Southern or Northern California
Regional champions for 2018-19. Unlike in
football and basketball, there are no Southern
California/Northern California championship
matchups for a number of reasons.
Baseball Season is Upon Us
The El Segundo Eagles have started their
season by dodging the raindrops when they
can. The Eagles’ inauspicious 1-3 start isn’t a
concern as of yet. The pitching has been great,
but the bats have been silent and that has been
problematic in the early going.
The Eagles were shut out by Redondo and
Mira Costa to start their schedule. They scored
their first run and first win against West Torrance
in a 2-1 win in 12 innings. It was the longest
game the Eagles have played in since 1965.
Quinn Kirsten started for El Segundo and went
nine innings. He gave up one unearned run,
while scattering four hits, striking out eight and
walking none. Kirsten threw well enough to
win for the second time this season. He was a
hard-luck 1-0 loser to Redondo. In nine innings,
he threw just 93 pitches and the only run he
gave up came in the fifth inning. A two-out
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error extended the inning and Jake Sonandres’
double scored Gary Rowe to tie the game 1-1.
El Segundo scored its first run of the season
in the fourth inning when Matt Romero powered
a fastball 360 feet for a home run to give the
Eagles a 1-0 lead. Neither team threatened to
score until the 12th inning when Ian Bonham
doubled and scored on Romero’s walk-off RBI
single. Though the game went 12 innings, it
took less than three hours to complete on a
very cool evening.
After playing an exhausting game the night
before, the Eagles were outplayed by Palos
Verdes and fell in a lopsided loss in the second
game of the Stevenson Tournament. The Eagles’
lone highlight came in the first inning when
they sent eight batters to the plate. Dylan
Marquez-Wasson and Bailey Davis had backto
back RBI singles to give the Eagles their
short-lived lead.
With the rainy weather this week, the Eagles’
playing schedule could be a challenge. They
were set to play Carson on Monday and continue
the rest of the Stevenson Tournament
that was to conclude on Saturday. •
Eagles pose after winning the CIF SoCal Regional final.