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The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
There were plenty of excuses that Lakewood could have blamed for their loss on Saturday in the CIF-SS Division 5 second round, but the Lancers used none of them. Lakewood came into the game with less than 24 hours of rest after an overtime win on Friday night and fought through some controversial officiating against visiting Northwood before falling just short in a 3-2 loss.
The game was potentially going to be rescheduled to Monday after the rain pushed back Lakewood’s first round matchup to Friday night, but Northwood declined. Ten other CIF second round games will be played on Monday as a result of the first round rescheduling.
“This is high school soccer for you. They’re a school that played on Thursday and didn’t want to play on Monday when we just played yesterday, what does that say about them? It is what it is, whatever, this has been us and we’re not gonna use it as an excuse,” said Lakewood coach Alex Diaz. “We fought at the end. The refs may have been bad but at the end of the day we didn’t put our opportunities away and that was the difference.”
Lakewood found a handful of opportunities for the equalizer in the final minutes of the game, including a corner kick that set up three different shots on goal, all to the bodies of Northwood defenders and goalie Jaden Isang. The Lancers also had a one-on-one opportunity in the 78th minute that was sent out of bounds on a crosser.
“Unfortunatly they had two shots on target in the second half and we had nine, but we only could put two away,” Diaz said. “It is what it is, hats of to Northwood. They took the four or five chances they had and scored three out of them, and that’s soccer. If you don’t put your chances away, the guys that do will win the game.”
The Lancers showed their tiredness in a first half that was in complete control by the visitors. Lakewood was unable to get their foot on a handful of second balls and goal kicks, meanwhile Northwood took the ball the other way and outshot the Lancers 17-5 in the half. Northwood took advantage of those shots and found its first goal of the game in the 16th minute off the foot of Ethan Han.
“We were just trying to stay tight and we know they like to come back to the outside and put a crosser in the box,” Diaz said. “So we were trying to prevent that but our line was too low. So we were allowing them in the first half to get on us. We gave them too much respect but we did a better job in the second half.”
Lakewood’s improvement in the second half had an immediate impact, starting with a William Oliveira set piece that found the head of Michael Gutierrez in the 44th minute to tie the game 1-1.
The Lancers did a good job continuing to flip the script in the second half and outshot the Timberwolves 7-3. The pair traded a couple more goals in the half, including a pair from Han to complete his hattrick. Gutierrez replied with another goal of his own in the 74th minute, which set up an intense final 15 minutes of game clock and stoppage time.
“It was just about them getting into a rhythm. They started out slow, but in the second half we started getting into a rhythm and started believing. That’s when the trust started coming in a bit.”
As the game went on, officiating also became an apparent issue to the Lakewood sideline and in the stands. Though the numbers told a fairly even story, it is safe to say that the refs made sure to stay involved. The two teams combined for almost two-dozen total fouls and five yellow cards, but the Lakewood frustration was more about the calls they felt they didn’t get. The Lancers coaching staff vocalized that frustration which resulted in a pair of red cards to two assistant coaches in the 70th and 71st minutes.
Despite the tension towards the end of the game, Diaz wore a big grin while talking to his team and staff who were all in good spirits after the loss. Diaz expressed his appreciation to his two starting seniors, but says that he’s very excited for what the future holds for a very young Lakewood soccer program.
“This team is together for another two years. At least ten of these guys lost last year in the CIF finals and they’re still coming back for another year so I’m excited. We have a good class coming back and like you said [Gutierrez] already has the school record for goals and this guy is gonna keep doing it. I’m just excited. I’m glad we got here, it’s a little taste for the younger guys to see the playoffs after an overtime win yesterday, so I’m very excited for what the future holds for us.”
