ALISO VIEJO – The attack was relentless.
From the moment the opening whistle blew on Monday night at Aliso Niguel High, the Godinez boys soccer team fired shot after shot at Valencia.
If it wasn’t Bryan Ibarra taking aim at the Tigers, it was Andy Sosa or Jose Requena or Roberto Arzate or Oscar Salas.
Valencia returns its entire backline from last year’s team that posted 17 shutouts, so the Tigers were able to slow down the Grizzlies for awhile.
But there was no stopping Godinez as Ibarra, Sosa and Salas each scored a goal to help the Grizzlies win the Aliso Cup championship, 3-0.
“I am very pleased with the way that the guys worked. I don’t think we played particularly well the first half,” Godinez coach Ruben Fernandez said. “I think they were slightly better, and I think that was because we weren’t sharp. But I have to give credit to them. They came and pressed us and made it difficult for us.”
The Grizzlies are the second team to win the Aliso Cup twice, and the first to do it in consecutively. Edison is the other repeat winner.
Godinez was the most dominant team in the tournament this season, outscoring their opponents 17-2, and that included three shutouts in five games.
Only one team was able to hold the Grizzles to less than three goals. Los Alamitos did it in the quarterfinals when the Grizzlies won 1-0.
“It is difficult (to defend a team like Godinez). We chased a lot tonight,” Valencia coach Barry Gardner said. “We talked about that at halftime. We talked about organizing our positioning. It is tough that we lost our shape a little bit. We didn’t even talk about Ibarra, but he became the focus. Our guys were glued to him.”
Ibarra ranked second in the county in goal scoring last season with 27, and whenever the ball got close to Ibarra on Monday, three marks quickly circled around the Grizzles’ senior forward.
But in the 50th minute, Ibarra managed to fight off two defenders after taking a long pass from Sosa, and gave Godinez a 2-0 lead with his fifth goal of the tournament.
“That was good for us to see (a team and a player like Godinez and Ibarra),” Gardner said. “It was good for us to see the speed of play because they were quick everywhere.”
And with with eight minutes to go, Ibarra used his speed to beat his marks, sprint into the right corner and fire a cross to the far post where Sosa was waiting. His goal set the final margin.
Salas gave the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute, knocking in a corner kick from Bryan Matias.
Valencia had few chances to get back in the game. Most of their shots came off set pieces, and in the 56th minute Alexis Martin del Campo smashed a 35-yard free kick off the face of the crossbar. After that, the Tigers (4-1) never got that close to scoring again.
“Defensively, we did very well,” Fernandez said. “The backline is all juniors. Only one was a starter last year. Five games and three shuts … I have to be happy with that.”
Contact the reporter: ddottore@scng.com
