Eagles’ coach to sit out after loss

COSTA MESA — As the Estancia High boys’ soccer team fell from its perch atop the Orange Coast League standings, Coach Gannon Burks exploded.

Frustrated with the officiating Friday afternoon, Burks started screaming at center judge Craig Cummings, prompting him to give the coach a red card and prematurely end the Eagles’ 2-0 Orange Coast League loss to Laguna Beach.

There were about two minutes left in the game when Burks left the sideline and crossed the field, shouting, “You told [Estancia] if [Laguna Beach] played dirty you were going to give them a card and you did not give them a card!”

Burks was angry because Cummings appeared to be reaching into his pocket to give Laguna Beach midfielder Ian Green a yellow card for slide tackling, which would have been his second, and resulted in an automatic red card.

However, Cummings hesitated to ask Green if it was his second card. When Green said yes, Cummings sent him off with a verbal warning instead.

Burks was outraged.

“I’ve been a varsity player for three years and I don’t ever recall him getting a red card or being so out of hand as he was today,” Estancia junior forward Tony Flores said. “I think this is just a one-time thing.”

It was a rant that seemed inevitable from the first whistle, when Burks protested because Laguna Beach (10-3-3, 2-0-1 in league) players were not getting called for elbowing and, in a couple of cases, punching.

At one point, Estancia senior midfielder Johny Sotomayor left the game with a bruised bone and didn’t return after he was kicked from behind.

“That was one of the things in the first half that was just very ugly,” Burks said. “It was an ugly game.”

Laguna Beach Coach Patrick Coyne thought his team was playing within the accepted parameters for a physical team.

“I think the [referee] called it both ways,” Coyne said. “There were a lot of elbows flying both ways. It’s a man’s sport, at the end of the day. I think more referees like that, who let the toughness go on make the game better here.”

With the loss, Estancia (5-5-3, 2-1-0), the defending Orange Coast League champions, slipped to second place in league. The Breakers, who finished second to Estancia last season, improved to first place.

Because of the red card, Burks must miss Wednesday’s game against Costa Mesa, but Flores thought the impact would be a minor one.

“We all strongly believe in our assistant coach, Robert Castellanos,” Flores said. “He does all the formations and decides the [substitutions]. He’s the more tactical coach. He plans our strategy. Obviously, for support, our head coach is there, but I think we should be fine against Costa Mesa.”

Laguna Beach, a large, physical team, was able to use its size to its advantage on both goals. The Breakers, who have eight players over six feet tall, dominated when it came to winning possession with a header. Junior defenseman Caine Fair, who was responsible for nearly all of Laguna Beach’s throw-ins, threw the ball into the box from about 35 yards out.

Sheldon Eaton, a six-foot, 180-pound defenseman, scored the first goal for Laguna Beach by heading in a first-half corner kick. The Breakers scored again in the second half off a free kick by Tommy Hopper.

With a significantly smaller lineup, the Eagles generally like to score by dribbling through defenders and having a forward cut diagonally behind the defense to isolate the goalkeeper. It’s the strategy that’s worked for them the most this season.

Senior Eric Duarte has been the Eagles’ go-to striker, but Friday, he grew frustrated with offsides calls. At one point in the second half, there were four straight offsides calls against Estancia.

“It seemed like call after call after call for the smallest things,” Flores said. “And it seemed like it was only going their way.”

Duarte had at least three second-half chances to score, but overshot the goal each time.

Burks is hoping that the Eagles will be able to reestablish their quick game on the Breakers’ turf field when the teams meet in Laguna Beach, Jan. 30.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].