Pegasus boys’ soccer hangs on to beat Andersen in Daily Pilot Cup 5th- and 6th-grade title match

Adam Hirsch played sparingly on championship Sunday at the Daily Pilot Cup youth soccer tournament.

Coach Richard Juge said that the Huntington Beach Pegasus School sixth-grader twisted his ankle Saturday morning in a sand soccer tournament. He did not play as Pegasus edged Costa Mesa Kaiser 4-2 in penalty kicks in a Pilot Cup boys’ fifth- and sixth-grade Gold Division semifinal.

Pegasus advanced to play Newport Beach Andersen for the title, and Hirsch again couldn’t stay on the pitch. The center back, who had thwarted Andersen scoring chances all match long, bumped knees with his twin brother, Jason, midway through the second half and had to come out again for the remainder of the match.

Losing a center back proved dicey for Pegasus. Andersen’s Christopher Stern converted a penalty kick in stoppage time, but Pegasus hung on for a 3-2 victory at Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex and the tournament title.

Hirsch did not really care that he was on the sidelines for the final whistle.

“We’re the best team in this tournament,” he told his teammates.

“We all knew it was our last year, most of us,” Hirsch added. “We just wanted to leave it all out there on the field.”

Pegasus fell behind in the very first minute, when Andersen’s Ganon Overfelt got behind the defense and scored, assisted by Ryan Rakunas. But Pegasus would erupt for three goals in the next 20 minutes.

First Kadyn Matthews scored in the seventh minute, assisted by Takeo Zollinger. Then Zollinger fed Ben Welford, and the Pegasus left winger sped up the sideline in the 14th minute and buried a shot into the near corner. Five minutes later, Julian DeSigio III took possession near the right sideline around midfield. He crossed it to Welford, who scored again to give Pegasus a 3-1 advantage.

“I told my boys, ‘We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,’” Juge said. “One thing we did well was that we created tons of opportunities every game. We struggled a little bit with finishing, because we really don’t have a true up-top finisher, but we have a lot of really good players. I said, ‘Hey, just keep doing what we’re doing, and the chances are going to come.’ The next thing I know, bam, bam, bam, it’s 3-1.”

Andersen played more even in the second half, and Stern converted the penalty kick in stoppage time after Pegasus committed a hand ball in its box. Andersen center back Logan Hykes had a couple of good passes up the field right before the final whistle, but they couldn’t convert with the striker on the other end.

“Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t,” said Andersen coach Ron Rakunas, whose team edged Newport Beach Mariners 2-1 in the semifinals behind goals from Stern and Brady Gadol. “This afternoon, it wasn’t our day. Honestly, my guys were gassed after the first game today. I didn’t see the usual burst to the ball, usual speed that I see out of them. I’m not taking anything away from the other team, but my guys were more gassed than they usually seemed. They played a pretty physical game in the morning.”

Walter Weed, Will Oldakowski and Tommy Hutchison were other key defenders for Andersen, while goalkeeper Miles Pluma made five saves. The Dolphins also got contributions from Danny Sageser, James Hamilton, Jake Card, Charlie Hamilton, Griffin Habermehl, Brady Annett, Jason Barber, Paul Grover, Quinn Tusa, Anthony Stern and Cole Bieksa.

Zollinger scored both regulation goals for Pegasus in its semifinal win over Kaiser, while Zollinger, Reagan Pearl, Matthews and Ryan Jack each made penalty kicks. Goalkeeper Caden Baniassad, who made three saves in the final, blocked two penalty kicks in the semifinal.

Other contributors for Pegasus included Angus Boundy, Colt Sandlin, Finn Grimstad, Garrett Ip, Peter Barkhordar, Finn Juge, Aydin Cosgrave and Lance Jin-Ngo.

The Thunder stayed long after the final whistle, as Richard Juge personally presented medals to each member of his championship team. Welford said that it felt sweet for a majority of the sixth-graders on the squad, after they lost in the Silver Division semifinals to Costa Mesa St. Joachim last year as fifth-graders.

“It’s our last year to play,” Zollinger said. “It’s good to end it on a strong note.”

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