From the sports archives: Woodside boys' soccer tops ECEl Camino to maintain stronghold in Ocean Division

The first-place Wildcats (6-0 in PAL Ocean, 7-3-2 overall) maintained their stronghold on the Ocean Division Friday, showing off their depth in a 3-2 win at El Camino. Despite having six players arrive late to the game — including the formidable junior forward tandem of Juan Castillo and Manny Delgado — Woodside was able to keep the Colts (2-4, 3-5) in check until the full force of its starting lineup was on the field.

“I can put any 11 players on the field and it’s a strong lineup,” Woodside head coach Darrell Ringman said.

Friday marked the first game this season in which Castillo and Delgado did not start, but the duo emerged in the second half to combine for the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute, as Delgado put a nice move on the El Camino defense to assist Castillo with his second goal of the year.

The goal was redemption for an offside call five minutes prior to nullify a would-be goal. It was Delgado who got behind the back row for that one, taking a quick pass from Castillo. But as Delgado put the ball in the back of the net for what he thought to be his fifth goal of the season, the attack was whistled dead, despite Delgado’s objections to the referee.

“I did not agree with that call at all,” Delgado said. “I know I started behind the defender and I was behind the ball. It would have been a cool goal.”

Having been friends since the first-grade, Castillo and Delgado share a strong chemistry. The thing is, the two had never played together before this year. And while they arrived late for the game, they had a good reason. While driving to Colt Field, they were approaching a stoplight when the two cars in front of theirs were in a fender bender. So, they took a time-out to offer assistance to the people in the accident, Ringman said.

“There were four (players) in the car and there was an accident in front of them,” Ringman said. “They got out to help. How can I fault that?”

Ringman’s makeshift starting lineup kept Woodside in the driver’s seat until their star juniors arrived though, sending the game into halftime tied 0-0.

Woodside opened the second half with a head of steam and it paid off when senior midfielder Luis Garcia broke the scoreless tie in the 43rd minute. Garcia curled around the back row for a decent look, but didn’t get a lot on a forward shot from 20 yards out. The attempt went directly at the El Camino goalkeeper, but Garcia followed it as the ball spun off the goalie’s hands and past him, leaving Garcia alone in the keeper’s box for an easy empty-net score.

But El Camino — having exhibited tenacious midfield play to close the first half — slowly changed the tide.

“I was very happy with their play today,” Colts head coach Ken Anderson said. “They didn’t give up. For me, we had chances to score goals and didn’t get them. But we stayed in there with a lot of fight.”

El Camino’s reward came in the 58th minute when it scored to tie it 1-1. The Colts earned a close throw-in to senior midfielder Kelvin Rosales, who tapped a back-foot pass into traffic at the penalty stripe. El Camino junior midfielder Ivan Stus gathered it and sliced a shot that went untouched for the tying score.

“We were either going to have to push for the win or play for the tie and we kind of played in between,” Stus said.

That is when the Colts got caught by the quick-strike Wildcats. Delgado set up the game-winning goal by challenging his defensive mark and streaking past him to find the open Castillo.

“After I took on the guy 1-on-1 on the inside, I saw [Castillo] asking for the ball with his hand … so I cut it in and — score,” Delgado said.

El Camino actually had the best chances of the first half. In the 27th minute, the Colts finally broke through when senior midfielder Christian Rico took a looping pass as he crossed the penalty line and fired a shot on goal into the high corner. But Woodside’s sophomore goalie Jonah Carranza got up to punch out the shot for a clutch save.

“Jonah is tall, he’s got lots of range and if he can touch the ball, he’s going to make the save,” Ringman said.

El Camino saw an even better chance in the 36th minute as senior Kelvin Rosales advanced out of midfield from the right side and put a pass into the middle for Lupercio. Flanking to the left of Lupercio was junior forward Edson Diaz, who had a good look off the left post, but his close-range cross-shot cut too far and missed wide right.

“That’s where we’re a little bit tentative,” Anderson said. “That’s where we don’t want to put a foot in there because we’re young up front.”

With the win, Woodside remains unbeaten in Ocean Division play. The Wildcats’ dominance stands to reason, as this is the first season in Ringman’s sixth year at the helm his team hasn’t played in the upper Bay Division.