Photo By Stephen Dachman
In the playoffs a win is a win, even if it’s a sloppy one.
After four quarters of choppy waters yesterday at Millikan High, the Rams emerged victorious, 12-10, over Capistrano Valley in the first round of the CIF Playoffs. A huge defensive stop from Jace Berry with about two minutes left in regulation set up an insurance goal from Joseph Tobar to end a very chippy contest.
There were 14 ejections total on Tuesday afternoon, but that doesn’t even include the punches thrown in the fourth quarter. “We’re used to all that stuff. We play good physical teams (in the Moore League) every year,” said Millikan senior Nick Beavers, who led the way for the Rams with four goals. “It feels so much better to come out of it with a win when you’re so frustrated in the pool… we just pulled through with a lot of heart.”
Trailing 6-7 at the half while out shooting the opponent, Millikan coach Alex Reyes didn’t feel good about his team’s execution. However, he was pleased to see his short-handed Rams come out tough on defense in the third quarter.
“We were missing Kyle and Danny Nottage because of sickness, and that really threw off our rotation,” said Reyes. “Then you have (Scott) Nyberg out because of ejections, and we were plugging and chugging with subs… I can’t tell you how proud I am right now. If we were in a game like this last year, we would have lost. This is turning into a program where we find a way to slug it out.”
Interesting choice of words for a contentious contest like this one, but Reyes did not mince words talking to the media after the match. “We’re better than we show I think, but a lot of that is youth with only four seniors on the roster.”
The Rams proved their coach’s point in the third quarter as they stiffened up on defense, getting six turnovers and only allowing one goal on three shots on goal. Meanwhile, Berry found his range from the outside and put two goals away in the top shelf to give Millikan a 10-8 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
The messy motif continued in the fourth quarter—which started with four turnovers in the first 40 seconds. After another ejection for Nyberg, Capo took advantage of the power play and attacker Kyle Catino scored to make it 10-9.
With crunch time looming, senior Conner McCombs stepped up huge and netted his second goal of the afternoon. He got the ball on the wing and pumped twice before burying it in the near side of the cage.
Minutes later—after a few punches and two more ejections, one of a player and one of a cursing parent—the Rams made the defensive stand of their season.
With a little over two minutes left and holding onto a two-goal lead, Millikan faced three shots from the Cougars attackers. Goalie and captain Miles Nicolau made huge stops on two of them, and Beavers deflected the third. Capo got the ball back again, but this time Berry stripped the ball from Chad Farnan, who already had two goals on the night. Berry then took the ball from coast-to-coast, and as soon as he got the Capo goalie to commit, he laid up a lob pass for Tobar, who tapped it into the back of the net for the 12-9 lead. The Rams were able to run out the clock two possessions later.
As to how far this team can go, Beavers shrugged after the game, “as far as we want to take it.”
Goals By Quarter
CV- 4 3 1 2 – 10
Mil- 2 4 4 2 – 12
Saves
CV – 8
Mil – 10
Come Back To LBPOSTsports.com on Thursday morning for the preview of the second-round match ups!