For the second year in a row, the Sunset League boys soccer championship came down to the final game on the Los Alamitos High turf field. Unfortunately for the Los Alamitos faithful, for the second year in a row, the Griffins lost in heartbreaking fashion.
Edison scored with just a couple of minutes remaining to take the league title with a 2-1 win on Wednesday at Los Alamitos High. After trailing for most of the game, the Griffins tied the score at 1-1 with just over four minutes left in the game.
For the second year in a row, the Sunset League boys soccer championship came down to the final game on the Los Alamitos High turf field. Unfortunately for the Los Alamitos faithful, for the second year in a row, the Griffins lost in heartbreaking fashion.
Edison scored with just a couple of minutes remaining to take the league title with a 2-1 win on Wednesday at Los Alamitos High. After trailing for most of the game, the Griffins tied the score at 1-1 with just over four minutes left in the game.
“It’s always like that, that’s what you have when you have two very structured teams and programs … it always seems to come down to that last game,” Griffin Coach Donovan Martinez said.
The Griffins were a young team this year, starting a lot of sophomores, but were able to put themselves in a position to win a league title in the final game of the season. Edison was able to score in the first 10 minutes of the game, taking advantage of a shaky start by the Griffins.
Los Alamitos was able to settle in after the goal and the game was a defensive battle between two disciplined teams. The game went into halftime with Edison still leading 1-0.
Both teams had opportunities in the second half. Edison was able to get off a solid shot at about the 26:45 mark, but sophomore goalkeeper Kaden Falsken was able to deflect the ball away. Edison was able to get another shot off the rebound, but it sailed high.
Los Alamitos was able to put pressure on after that, getting three opportunities, including two corner kicks with about 12 minutes left. The second kick resulted in a double header that floated just over the goal.
With about 4:15 left in the game, the Griffins got the ball inside the Edison goal box with a long throw-in. the ball was sent to the right side with a header, where sophomore Alex van Steenbergen was able to get control of it.
Steenbergen put a shot past a defender and the shifting goalie, just inside the left post to tie the game up at 1-1. However, about two minutes later, the Chargers were able to regain the lead with a strong push and shot from the left side that slipped though for the game-winner.
Donovan said that the lapse after the tying goal, as well as the early goal allowed that put the Griffins in the early hole, were signs of the teams’ youth. It’s something he said they need to improve upon if they hope to make noise in the playoffs.
“We have to be able to respond better to impactful events,” Martinez said.
The Griffins will open the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at El Toro on Friday at 3 p.m. El Toro wo-n the South Coast League.