Estancia settles for tie

FULLERTON — It’s a good thing Gannon Burks trusts his players.

The Estancia High boys’ soccer team had a free kick from 30 yards out, trailing 2-1, with 16 minutes remaining in its second game of pool play in the West Coast High School Classic at Cal State Fullerton Wednesday.

Burks, the team’s coach, had designed a play, but senior stopper Robert Abarca stepped in and suggested he take the free kick. Burks agreed and Abarca bounced a shot through the defense and past the frozen Clovis West goalkeeper for the equalizer in the Eagles’ 2-2 tie of defending Central Section Division I champion Clovis West (10-1-3).

Estancia (4-3-3) will play Torrance today at noon in its last game of a pool play. The tournament features 17 teams ranked in the top 25 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the championship game Saturday at 5 p.m. will be televised live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.

“Robert Abarca’s free kick was amazing,” Burks said. “He’s a long ball shooter. He’s not a finisher. In the beginning, I was a little irritated, but they’re on the field and I’m on the sideline.”

Abarca said he saw an advantage in the positioning of the goalkeeper and defense he could exploit.

“The angle of it and the goalie being out of position, I just hated to waste that,” Abarca said. “I just knew I had to get that shot. I knew it was going to be one of our last chances. After the first bounce and nobody touched it I knew it was going in. I was happy when it went in. I thought we could win.”

Senior midfielder Denny Perdomo, who scored the Eagles’ first goal, said Abarca’s score was just what Estancia needed.

“It felt really warm inside,” Perdomo said. “We thought we should have beat them.”

After the match was tied, a once frozen Eagles’ offense began to heat up.

“I don’t know what got into us,” Perdomo said. “We just felt we had to beat them. We came in here as the underdogs. We just needed have everybody on the same page.”

Clovis West had one scoring opportunity for the remainder of the game, coming off a corner that senior goalkeeper Daniel Calderon quickly defused.

“We worked harder as a team,” Abarca said. “We just knew we had to work harder. There was a lack of communication. We were too confident. We had to play as one.”

In the game’s final minutes, the Eagles were constantly on the attack, earning free kicks near the Clovis West goal and penetrating the defense with regularity.

“I thought we were a better team,” Burks said. “We were in better shape than them and they got a little tired at the end.”

Junior Eric Duarte and Abarca each had free kicks on the side of the 18-yard box, but both missed their intended targets. Senior Edgar Rodriguez, along with Duarte and Abarca were clustered in the box but they were not able to get off a shot.

In the final minutes, Rodriguez lofted a pass over a Clovis West defender to Duarte, who had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his quick shot was wide.

The offense the Eagles mounted in the final 20 minutes was more than they had the entire game.

“I just challenged them a little differently. I called them out,” Burks said. “I try not to challenge them, but like in real life if you don’t perform you are going to lose your job.”

Burks said junior midfielder Jose Rodriguez was injured and had to leave the game, putting pressure on the Eagles’ bench. Off the bench, stopper Linen Hererra, Osbaldo Soto and Juan Bacera contributed.

“They came in and gave us what we needed,” Burks said. “If you can trust your bench you have a solid team.”

Perdomo gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead early when he blasted a shot into the left corner.

Estancia held on until it gave up two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

The Eagles lost in their first game to Woodbridge, 4-2, earlier Wednesday, but Burks said if Estancia defeats Torrance today it will advance out of pool play.

“We’d like to do well in the tournament,” Burks said. “But this is just preparation for the Orange Coast League.”