Scots advance to semis
After differential of one-goal left the Vincent Memorial High boys’ soccer team of the playoffs last season, the Scots vowed to do better this year. The team just that, finishing atop the Manzanita League standings with a record of 7-01 and playing to on overall regular season mark of 12-1-3. The Scots were rewarded with not only a spot in the CIF-San Diego Section playoffs, but a high enough seed to earn a first-round bye and a home match in the quarterfinals.
Vincent Memorial grabbed the No. 3 spot in the Div. V tourney and Saturday night hosted No. 11 Army-Navy in a quarterfinal
contest played at Calexico High’s Ward Field here.
The Scots dominated from the opening whistle, nabbing two goals in the first 15 minutes of the game and eventually went on to defeat the Warriors 4-0 to cruise into Wednesday’s semifinals.
Helping the Scots to the win were Leo Wang and Eduardo Valenzuela, who tallied the early goals, while senior captain Jordi Garcia made it 3-0 before the end of the first half after he scored on a penalty-kick opportunity.
“I thought they played well and that they played as a team,” said Scots Head Coach Rodrigo Islas. “There were no individuals out there (Saturday night).” While the Scots have not played in a game in over a week, there appeared to be no rust on their cleats as they possessed the ball for nearly the entire game and kept the Warrior defense on its toes the full 80 minutes.
“We started early this year and have been conditioning since about October,” Islas said. Despite the team’s early start in terms of training, the team chemistry had a late start as a majority of players were members of the football team that had a historical run in the playoffs.
“I think football’s last game was Dec. 16, then we had winter break, so we didn’t get a lot of our guys until January,” Islas explained.
Assistant Coach Juan Molina said in spite of this, the depth of the Scots’ senior class helped propel them to a league title and now the Div. V semis.
“We have 12 seniors this year, so I think a lot of what we’ve been able to do is because of that group,” he said.
Wednesday’s semifinal appearance will be a first for both coaches, who came close to reaching this point in the playoffs two years ago, before falling in the quarterfinals.
“This is all new to us, but it feels great,” Islas said with a smile.
In the semifinals, the Scots will host No. 7 High Tech CV at 5 p.m. Wednesday at a site to be determined.