Cabrillo scored twice in the first 20 minutes yesterday at Lakewood and held off the Lancers on the opening afternoon of Moore League play. Despite being a man down for the entire second half, the Jags head home with a 2-0 victory.
Head coach Pat Noyes has been telling his team about getting more touches in the 18-yard box, and the Jags put the advice to use in the third minute of play. A three-pass combination ended with Cesar Sanchez spinning around a defender at the corner of the box and finding Wilfredo Mejia open for the backdoor pass. Mejia took the cross and sent it back far post for the score. In the 20th minute he paid it forward as he took it himself to the end line, and a clumsy clear from the Lakewood defense ended up at the feet of Jose Vaca. The sophomore midfielder poked it in for the 2-0 lead.
Lakewood was without seniors Luis Ramirez, Tyre Brown and Joseph Masumiya for health and personal reasons, and the lack of leadership and firepower limited the Lancer attack. Julian Salas and Jaime Ortiz struggled up front to keep possession and get quality shots, and eventually they were completely shut down by Cabrillo defenders like Gabriel Borja and Armando Padilla.
“They were ready and came out fast, and we didn’t step up,” said Lakewood head coach James Cross. “We need to get better at taking the opportunities… you can’t score if you don’t shoot.”
Cabrillo controlled most of the first half, but the physical play that defined the game reached it’s peak in the final seconds when Rigo Luna was given a red card for tussling with Ortiz. The Jaguars were forced to play a man down for the entire second half, but Lakewood could not capitalize.
Some less than stellar field conditions and a lot of cleats in the air kept the whistles coming and slowed the game down. This worked in the Jags favor because any effort by the Lancers to counter attack was thwarted by a foul. Lakewood only had three shots on goal in the second half.
Lakewood will travel to Compton on Wednesday, while Cabrillo will host Millikan in the game of the week.
“It’s up to us to limit our mistakes and take advantage of theirs,” said coach Noyes of the game with Millikan. “It might just come down to something like set plays.”