Some coaches say that there’s no such thing as a moral victory—we understand their point, but the Cabrillo Jaguars certainly have nothing to hang their head about.  The Jags played their way into the bracket with a win over Moorpark, 5-0, on Wednesday—that sent them into the tournament as the 32-seed in a 32-team bracket, and they traveled to play El Toro, the top seed, on Friday.  El Toro had lost one game coming into the playoffs.

And, though the Jags came away with a loss, 1-0, they played a top team very tightly, with the score knotted at zero until there were just eight minutes left, when El Toro scored on a corner kick that rattled around in the box for a bit too long.  It was a well-played defensive struggle, with both goalies combining for just five saves.  The Jags had a great scoring chance in the first ten minutes when top scorer Miguel Hernandez ripped a free kick from 38 yards out—it bounced up off the El Toro goalie, hit the corner of the goal, and bounced down behind the keeper.  An El Toro player tried to clear it but kicked it straight up into the crossbar—then it bounced out, and they cleared it. 

“I feel very good about how we played,” said head coach Pat Noyes after the game.  “My guys were upset at the end of the game, but we played really well—we stayed with them.”