Kaiser No. 1 edges Irish

Steve Virgen

The Daily Pilot Cup features teams that represent elementary schools.

Most of the players are friends, yet there is hardly team chemistry

on the field, considering that they have such a short time to

practice with each other.

However, Gerardo Jimenez, the coach of the Kaiser No. 1 third- and

fourth-grade boys soccer team, perhaps found the best way to bring

his players together.

Passing.

The Knights, who gathered rhythm from their passing, defeated St.

John The Baptist, 4-3, Wednesday in Pool C play at the Costa Mesa

Farm Complex.

St. John The Baptist Irish nearly rallied from a 2-0 halftime

deficit, but Kaiser held on for the win, thanks to second-half goals

by Kevin Cortez and Brice Manning.

“You just cross your fingers and hope that they can click,”

Jimenez said of coaching the Knights. “I just wanted to make sure

that they passed a lot.”

Kaiser’s passing led to its 1-0 lead. Three minutes into the game,

Luis Torres centered the ball to Joel Vascomcelos, who scored from

about 10 yards out. Later, with two minutes left in the 25-minute

first half, Nolan Mena scored, finding his hot spot in the top center

portion of the net. He was 15 yards out and battled the ball away

from a number of Irish defenders.

Though St. John The Baptist was down, 2-0, it still shot the same

number of shots, five, as the Knights did in the first half. Alex

Ouderkirk scored a hat trick for the Irish in the second half. He

made good on a penalty kick after a hand-ball early in the half, then

he scored on a breakaway, tying the score, 2-2.

But Cortez scored and the Knights regained the lead. Manning, one

of the shorter players on the field, also found the net for an

insurance goal with two minutes left. Less than a minute later,

Ouderkirk scored.

James Napp recorded five saves as one of three goalies for St.

John The Baptist, which was coached by Jessica Gatica, who played for

the school when it competed in the Lions Cup, which is now the Pilot

Cup.

*

In other boys 3-4 action:

* Lincoln 2, Andersen 2: In a strong showing of school spirit, the

Lincoln Leopards died their hair blue for the event to match their

blue shirts. Nick Gooding and Kjell Wolker led the offensive attack

for Lincoln, each scoring goals. Nick Curci, JD Dawn, George Kennedy

and Cameron Orr anchored the Lincoln defense, which rebuffed numerous

scoring opportunities for Anderson. Zack Socoloske, Allen Brown, Nick

Rich, Jonathan Jaffee and Spencer Christoff created numerous scoring

opportunities. Andrew McCormack and Kevin Gordinier played well in

goal, each making numerous diving saves.

Lincoln coaches Gunnar Gooding and John Curci praised the efforts

of both teams. “This was a tremendous game with an incredibly high

level of competition,” Gooding said. “At any given time there were 18

boys on the field with All-Star or club-level experience. What a

great way to start the Daily Pilot Cup.”

* Davis 4, Newport Heights 0: Jesus Estrada scored twice with P.J.

Maloney and Moises Arias each adding single goals in Davis’ shutout

win in Pool D play at the Farm Complex. Julio Espinoza added an

assist for Davis.

* Rea No. 1 8, Harbor View 0: Martin Garcia, Gilberto Garcia and

Arturo Jimenez each scored two goals for victorious Rea No. 1 in Pool

A play at the Farm Complex. Diego Lima and Marco Jimenez tallied one

goal apiece.