LAKE FOREST – Two El Toro boys soccer players picked the water cooler up off the bench and headed onto the field, making a beeline for Coach Shawn Watts.
Watts spotted them, turned around, wagged a finger and stopped them in their tracks.
But the No. 2 Chargers were still in a mood to celebrate. Their classmates had just rushed the field, surrounding the players after they had beaten No. 7 Los Alamitos, 2-0, in a CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinal match Friday.
So there’s still two more matches to win before Watts will let his players give him the obligatory icy bath. One of those games is Tuesday’s semifinal in which the Chargers (15-0-7) will play host to No. 6 Edison.
“At this point we are just ready to play anybody, so bring it … bring it,” Watts said. “We put two unbelievable goals in (on Friday). Williams’ (Vasquez) goal was the goal of the year by far. What a strike.”
Vasquez delivered the winner in the 14th minute when Los Alamitos cleared a Daniel Parker corner kick to the top of the box where Vasquez was waiting. With one touch, Vasquez volleyed the ball into the back of the net. Five minutes later, Alex Rippeon added another.
For the first 10 minutes, though, it was the Griffins (17-11-3) who were on the attack with Brett Hall and Ryan Mendoza taking aim at the Chargers’ goal. Both shots, though, grazed the crossbar as they headed out of play.
“All the credit goes to them because in the first half they won every challenge,” Los Alamitos coach Donovan Martinez said. “They were first to every ball. It seemed like they wanted it more. and when they scored, it went to another level. But I am very pleased with our resolve in the second half.”
With about a minute left in the game, Charlie Ross got in behind the Chargers’ back line and was standing alone at about the penalty spot. He lined a shot at the goal, which Mac Hutchins slapped away, one of the five saves he made in the second half.
“Maybe not the placement I would have wanted, but he struck the ball well, and the keeper came up with a great save,” Martinez said. “They had a very good keeper who saved a lot of our opportunities.”
Contact the writer: ddottore@ocregister.com
