San Clemente ties Aliso Niguel with last-second goal

ALISO VIEJO – The first shot came with less than a minute left in Wednesday’s South Coast League game, and the second followed when there were just a few seconds left in stoppage time.

But that was all Sam Merritt needed to keep San Clemente from leaving Aliso Niguel High with a loss. His goal on the final play of the game led the No. 3 Tritons to a 1-1 tie with No. 4 Aliso Niguel.

It was Merrit's eighth goal of the season and third during South Coast League play.

Afterward, every San Clemente player left the bench and sprinted onto the field to join the celebration, which turned into one giant group hug around Merritt.

As for Aliso Niguel, Coach Randy Dodge said his players viewed the game as a loss.

“They are gutted a little bit. But 24 hours later, it’s just a tie,” Dodge said. “I am proud of my kids. I thought they did a good job and they kept their composure.”

This is the first time in four South Coast League games the Tritons have been held to just a goal. They scored four goals in each of their three previous matches.

San Clemente occasionally seemed a bit out of sync. Several times a San Clemente player would send a good ball into the corner, but a teammate didn’t make a run as expected.

“We started with the wrong plan of attack and had to make some changes,” San Clemente coach Mike Pronier said. “I thought Aliso played a solid game, and they had a good plan. And they worked very hard and beat us to a lot of balls. But the bottom line is we kept fighting at the end.”

But had it not been for Robert Choi, the Tritons wouldn’t have had to rely on Merritt’s last-second heroics. Twice in the first half, the Wolverines’ senior defender was guarding the far post, and both times he turned away a San Clemente shot from inside the 6-yard box.

“The first half, I thought they (San Clemente) were really good. Credit to them. They are good side,” Dodge said. “But in the second half … we are three goals better there.”

Only one of the Wolverines’ shots went in, however. I happened just five minutes into the second half when San Clemente goal keeper Elias Licea threw the ball right to Aliso Niguel’s sophomore defender Tyler Gong who was standing near midfield. Gong got the ball into the final third for the Wolverines and there Adam Tedder redirected a pass from Tyler Troup to put the Wolverines up 1-0.

Three minutes later, Aliso Niguel went on the attack again firing two point-blank shots at Licea, but Licea batted both of them away, recording two of his seven saves.

On Feb. 9, the two teams will meet again at San Clemente High in a game that will likely determine the South Coast League championship. When the Wolverines come to town, though, there sometimes isn’t much of a home field advantage for the Tritons.

Five years ago, Aliso Niguel needed a tie to win the league title, and in stoppage time, the visiting Wolverines knocked the ball off the post and into the goal to even the score, 2-2. Dodge reminded his players about that when they were looking rather dejected after Wednesday’s game.

“We are one of the only teams that can go in there and give them a run for their money,” Dodge said. “That is a tough place to play.