peter fuertes
ST. FRANCIS HIGH -- There were two reasons for the St. Francis High
boys' soccer team to be happy Monday night.
Not only did the Golden Knights rebound from a tough loss Friday by
defeating Harvard-Westlake High, 3-1, in a Mission League match, but also
leaped back into a first-place tie in league along with Loyola High,
which defeated Chaminade High, 2-1, Monday.
The Golden Knights (19-4-3, 9-2) now control their own destiny. With a
victory at Crespi High Wednesday, St. Francis would go in as the league's
No. 1 seed because it defeated Loyola twice during the regular season.
St. Francis was coming off a 1-0 loss to Chaminade, enabling the
Eagles to take sole possession of first place by one-half game.
Monday, the Golden Knights wasted no time in disposing of the
Wolverines (8-11-4, 3-7-1), scoring all of their goals in the first half.
"We wanted to rest a lot of the guys, especially since every game is
crucial now," St. Francis Coach Glen Appels said. "When we scored early,
it gave us the opportunity to do that."
The Golden Knights dominated the Wolverines in the first half, getting
16 scoring chances to one.
Senior Daniel Marco, who was inserted into the starting lineup
recently, was the catalyst for the Golden Knights, scoring the team's
first two goals.
"I haven't got as many opportunities to finish as I would like to, so
it felt good doing that, especially on senior appreciation day, in front
of my mom and dad, and my coach, whose been with me three, four years
now."
Marco headed a throw-in past Wolverine goalkeeper Jon Goldman in the
fourth minute, then kicked in Ryan Shaw's missed shot in the 13th minute.
Off Andy Burghdorf's cross pass, Donovan Schuil added the third St.
Francis goal in the 24th minute.
Everett Wong spoiled St. Francis' goalkeeper Raul Calderon's bid for a
shutout in the 79th minute, taking Mark Tobias' cross pass and going
right top shelf.
