PHOTOS: Fullerton tops Sunny Hills to earn a share of league title with Lancers

Fullerton’s Misael Gonzalez Lopez celebrates his second goal with teammate Bryan Izguerra Wednesday. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone).

Wednesday’s Freeway League boys soccer match between host Fullerton and Sunny Hills was a moment of redemption for both teams.

For Fullerton, a 3-0 victor, the gratification was immediate. The win avenged a first-round loss to the Lancers and earned the Indians a share of their second consecutive Freeway League title with Sunny Hills.

For Sunny Hills, which collected a share of its sixth league title in eight seasons, the gratification will be delayed until the disappointment of Wednesday’s loss dims.

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

Wednesday was all about the Indians. They entered the current season regarded as one of the best teams in CIF, influenced by a junior-dominated team that had gone 13-3 in 2021, won the Freeway League and played well enough in the CIF playoffs to be promoted to Division 1 this season.

The Indians did nothing to dampen their reputation this season, winning the prestigious Marina Tournament and opening the season 11-1-1. Sunny Hills got the Indians’ attention by winning the first-half match, 2-1. That might have been just what Fullerton needed.

“That game kind of woke us up,” Fullerton co-coach Santiago Alvarez said. “That loss kind of retuned us. Since then the kids have been on a mission.”

And, to this point, mission accomplished. The Indians rolled through the second half of a very tough league winning all five games and outscoring their rivals, 23-0.

“Were very excited,” Santiago said. “We feel like we’r3e peaking at the right time.”

Wednesday’s match was evenly played through the first 22 minutes before Misael Gonzalez Lopez scored the first of his two goals. The lead grew to 2-0 less than two minutes later when Kenneth Flores’ shot caromed off a Sunny Hills defender and in to the goal. Gonzalez Lopez, who assisted on Flores’ shot, added a goal in the second half and Sunny Hills could never recover.

While the disappointment in Wednesday’s loss was painfully apparent, Sunny Hills had a season it can be extremely proud of. A year ago, injuries led to a substandard season … a fifth-place finish in the Freeway League and the Lancers missed the CIF playoffs for the first time in any of their players’ lifetime … 20 years.

This season’s team vowed to begin a new streak.

“We had a bad go of it last year with injuries and these guys found a way to bring us back from that,” said Lancer Coach Mike Schade. “We went from fifth place to first so that is really impressive.” 

Also impressive is the way the Lancers went 9-1 in league. Eight of their victories were by one goal. The ninth was by two.

“The kids showed great character,” Schade said. “Every game was a battle for us and these guys found a way to win 9 out of 10. That’s very impressive.”

Both teams will enter the playoffs as a league champion and will host a first-round game, Fullerton in Division 1 and Sunny Hills in Division 3.

Wednesday was senior Day for the host Indians and they honored 15 fourth-year players: Marcus Yonas, Ketan Bharadwaja, Gabriel Vazquez, Bryan Ramos, Matthew Ballin, Misael Gonzalez Lopez, Joey Barreto, Diego Olivera, Raul Rodriquez, Garrett Elkermann, Bryan Izguerra, Alexandro Baltazar, Andrew Jckson, Gael Jimenez and Nicholas Arnold.

–Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone