Ask Millikan head coach Rod Petkovic what he is expecting from his CIF Championship opponent El Toro, and he’ll just shrug, “It’s the final, everyone does everything well.”
In this year’s case, he couldn’t be more right about the El Toro Chargers, who earned the right to play Millikan with a 2-1 victory over Loyola the day after the Rams beat the St. Francis Golden Knights.
The Chargers semifinal victory was a perfect game for the Rams to scout because they got to see El Toro and their best player at their best. Senior midfielder Jacob Kaiser, the front runner for Orange County Player of the Year, shut down Loyola’s best player while netting two goals, his second and third of these playoffs.
The second goal was a nice low shot from about 22-yards out, but the first score showcased Kaiser’s leaping ability. Standing just six-feet tall, Kaiser uses his athletic ability to rule the air at the midfield, and in front of goal.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy that size leap like that,” says Petkovic of Kaiser, who didn’t score much during the regular season, but like a true team leader, has played better each time the Chargers move forward in the CIFSS bracket.
El Toro hasn’t lost since December 15th to Newport Harbor, but they got back at the Sailors in the quarterfinals, 2-0. The Chargers have netted 70 goals this season and only allowed only 19 with a tag team of quality keepers.
Coach Ken Sjobom has used both Justin Tucker (54 saves) and Chase Beard (38 saves) in goal this year, but the fantastic defense is mostly due to veteran ranks that keep shape very well, and don’t allow many free opportunities to their opponents.
“This is a team that we built for this year,” Sjobom told OCVarsity.com after Wednesday’s game. “It doesn’t always come to fruition like this. We knew we had the talent, but soccer is soccer. Anything can happen.”
Happening more often than not this year is the Chargers over powering their opponents with sheer size. Coach Petkovic says that El Toro is one of the biggest team’s the Rams will see this year, and his team will need to be prepared for every set piece, including throw-ins. A long throw-in from Jordan Ricard to Kaiser’s head created the first goal in the semi.
Both teams played Loyola (Millikan beat Loyola earlier this year 1-0) and Cabrillo, who gave El Toro a run for their money in the first round of playoffs, but fell 1-0.
If Millikan falls into playing kickball with the Chargers like they did in the first half against St. Francis, El Toro will almost certainly take advantage and keep the pressure on the Rams. If Millikan keeps the ball on the ground and passes like they did in the second half on Tuesday, an early goal could dictate the game’s pace.
“They’ve got speed,” says Petkovic. “They’re deep and they’ve scored a lot of goals this year… but all that regular season stuff is irrelevant now. It’s all about focus. We need to focus on one play, one situation at a time. In these games, if you look further down the road, the further down doesn’t happen.”
The Rams and Chargers will defiantly be in the moment on Saturday night at 8pm, and so should you! Get out to Warren High and support the Moore League! But first, come back to LBPostSports.com tomorrow for more about these Rams.