The stories are getting old for the Fullerton boys soccer team, the ones recounting the Indians’ impressive run to a second consecutive Freeway League championship two years ago.
These kids, Coach George Shumaker said, want to build their own legacy. Just four games into the season, it’s still too early to determine the true potential of this season’s lineup. But there’s no doubt about how much work the Indians put in during the offseason.
“And when the light bulb comes on for us, it think it will shine bright,” Shumaker said.
On Wednesday at Brea Olinda High, the spotlight was on the Indians as they won their three-team pool and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Wildcat Cup with a 2-1 victory against La Mirada.
The Indians (2-2) will face Troy today at 4:40 p.m. Troy lost to Brea Olinda, 4-0, on Wednesday.
“I think we are starting to to develop as a team,” Shumaker said. “We are getting a lot more consistency in what we are doing. But we still have a long ways to go.”
At times, the Indians didn’t offer much resistance against the Matadores, who fired shot after shot at Fullerton’s goal. La Mirada took a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute off a strike by Andrew Sanchez.
Four minutes later, Liam Uys played a free kick shot to Steve Perez, who tied the score for the Indians with his shot from 25 yards out.
The second half began a lot like the first, as the Matadores took aim once again at the Indians.
Moments after La Mirada smashed a shot off the cross bar, Luis Hernandez sprinted down the field, took a shot from just outside the box and the ball deflected off a La Mirada defender on its way into the goal, giving the Indians a 2-1 lead.
“You are never as good as you think you are when you are winning and as bad as you think you are when you are losing,” Shumaker said. “Early on, you try to make sure you are executing the things that you are working on and do it better.”
In other boys soccer:
Edison 2, Mission Viejo 1: Jack Morrel and Dom Bair both scored while the host Chargers (5-1) were playing a man down to deliver a nonleague victory.
Founatin Valley 2, No. 3 Santa Ana 0: Ryan Erickson and Zack Young both scored for the host Barons (3-1) in the nonleague triumph.
Contact the writer: ddottore@ocregister.com
