Pilot Cup: Andersen rolls in opener
The Andersen Elementary boys’ fifth- and sixth-grade silver division team was admittedly not at full strength Tuesday evening for its Daily Pilot Cup opener.
The Dolphins were missing several players who were on the diamond instead of the pitch. They were competing in the Newport Beach Little League playoffs.
“I think we’ll have all of our players on Thursday, I think, almost all of them,” Andersen’s Ryan McManigal said.
McManigal himself missed the very start of the game against Paularino due to a different sport. He was practicing with his Newport Beach Water Polo Club 12-and-under club team.
When McManigal got to the game at Costa Mesa High field No. 1, Andersen Coach Jon Johnston put him in at the next dead ball. It wasn’t a hard decision. Andersen was playing down a player.
McManigal didn’t take long to warm up. He scored twice in the first half, finishing off his hat trick just after halftime.
Andersen was on its way to a 6-1 victory over Paularino, the defending champion in the division.
“We felt good,” McManigal said. “We had good defense, we had good offense. We were missing some of our players today and we had to play a whole game, but it’s good for us.”
Charlie Hutchison, Jake Olson and Matthew Blum also scored goals for Andersen, which is a team of all fifth-graders.
The Andersen defense, led by Hutchison, Tyler Duss, Jordan Cortens, Blum and goalie Timo Schmidt, was stout. Schmidt blocked a penalty kick in the second half, preserving what at the time was a 4-0 advantage for Andersen after Paularino’s Deen Dokovic was fouled in the box.
Paularino Coach Marco Argueta argued to the referee that a card, at least a yellow but probably a red, should have been issued to the Andersen defender on the play. None was, but Paularino still got on the board moments later.
It was Dokovic, who scored on a free kick just outside the box.
Andersen scored twice more after that, despite stellar play from Paularino goalie Jeremy Cruz, who was peppered with shots but still made 10 saves. The Dolphins held off on scoring again, since a team is penalized for winning by more than five goals per tournament rules.
Jack Bunting and Cooper Esnard also contributed for Andersen, which continues its tournament Thursday at 3:45 p.m. back at Costa Mesa High field No. 1, against Harbor View.
Eugene Park, Nick De La Rosa, Brandon Cruz, Adrien Joya, Ethan Jones, Josh Orozco and Herardo Carrillo also contributed for Paularino, which also plays next against Harbor View on Friday at 6:30 p.m., at Farm field No. 1.
Like Andersen, Paularino has all fifth-graders, except for Carrillo, a fourth-grader who’s playing up.
“We didn’t have a full team,” Argueta said to explain why. “We still don’t have a full team, but that’s OK.”
