Sailors’ fun run finished

LAKE FOREST — Mike Ditta reached a stage in the boys’ soccer season he never believed before the season was possible for the Newport Harbor High boys’ soccer team to reach.

You can understand why. The coach took over a 2-11-3 club, far from possibly still being a factor during this time of the year.

Ditta’s first year ended Friday and he felt honored to be a part of the Sailors’ turnaround.

Newport Harbor fell at No. 1-seeded El Toro, 2-0, in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs.

The Sailors (13-7-4) tried to beat the Chargers for a second time this season. No other team had defeated El Toro (23-1-3).

In the third meeting between these two, El Toro figured out the Sailors for a second time. Their killer combo, long throw-ins by Dillan Freiberg into the box to the head of Will Muñoz, ended.

The combo worked for so long, allowing Newport Harbor to go 7-0-2 until facing the Chargers again.

The Chargers gave up numerous opportunities, getting an uncharacteristic five yellow cards. They just beat the Sailors to the ball, heading the ball out of trouble every time.

Muñoz, the Sailors’ most dangerous player in the air due to his head, headed home. The senior striker got his head on a couple of balls, none beat El Toro.

The Chargers stopped him, helping them reach the semifinals after some tough quarterfinals losses in Coach Ken Sjobom’s career at El Toro.

“We’ve been to the quarterfinals in my 12 years, six [or] seven times,” said Sjobom, who clearly understood what it took to reach Tuesday’s semifinal against No. 4 Loyola of Los Angeles.

Slowing down Muñoz helped El Toro get one win away from returning to a section final for the first time since Sjobom’s first season.

Sjobom knew all about Muñoz and how he propelled the Sailors to a 3-2 victory in their second-round match against Crespi of Encino with a header in the 74th minute Wednesday.

Around that stage of Friday’s match, a header by Muñoz on a throw-in was easily gloved by goalkeeper Justin Tucker.

“I was talking to some other coaches … he has this great ability to do this at the last minute and elevate,” said Sjobom, demonstrating how Muñoz leaps in the air with the help of a defender’s shoulder. “He got over our guy, [who’s] six inches taller than him, and he had his arm up on his shoulder. You watch World Cup stuff, I’ve been watching soccer all week, saw ESPN2, guys get away with that stuff all the time.

“He’s just really good at it, which is great, because you look at him, you go, ‘He shouldn’t be scoring.’ He scores on a lot of goals on headers. He’s got an inane ability. He jumps OK, but he doesn’t jump out of the gym or anything. He’s got a knack of using his body and creating opportunities.”

Ditta said these opportunities are due to great timing and great determination by Muñoz.

The Sailors showed a lot of resolve all season. They beat El Toro, 3-2, in the Irvine Challenge championship on Dec. 15.

Ramiro Tomas and Muñoz each scored goals in the match, erasing one-goal deficits. When the Sailors on Friday went down, 1-0, on Jacob Kaiser’s header off a throw-in in the 33rd minute, they allowed the early momentum to slip away.

In the first half, Freiberg had four superb throw-ins deep into the box. Teammates couldn’t put a quality shot on goal. The referee also handed out three yellow cards to El Toro players before halftime. Newport Harbor missed out on its opportunities.

When Robert Hernandez scored in the 63rd minute off a rebound in the box, Newport Harbor’s turnaround season was over.

Muñoz said he will never forget it.

“I’m going to remember these moments,” said Muñoz, who plans to play at Orange Coast College next season. “We did pretty well. El Toro is a good team. They deserved the victory.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].