The562’s coverage of high school soccer is sponsored by Long Beach FC.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
Less than 24 hours after surviving 100 scoreless minutes and a dramatic penalty kick shootout in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs, Wilson bounced back with an absolute dominant performance in a 5-0 victory over visiting Mountain View on Saturday evening.
“When you’ve got your track coach as your soccer coach you’re in good shape,” Wilson coach CJ Brewer said of his team’s impressive fitness. “We’ve also played a lot of games back to back like this, so this is nothing new. We weren’t ever worried about being tired. We prepared all year to be ready for it.”
The Bruins’ five goals is their most in a playoff game in more than a quarter of a century. Wilson (12-7-6) will visit Dominguez on Wednesday for the quarterfinal round. It’s their first quarterfinal appearance since 2019.
Junior Casey Pettyjohn netted a hat trick for Wilson while Dhylan Parada and Pablo Pineda also scored for the home side.
“Any fear (of a letdown) we had coming into this game pushed us to be better and have a great game,” Pettyjohn said. “We’ve had a lot of draws this season and we always come back from that and do our best.”
The stout Wilson defense and goalkeeper Grayson Gilmore recorded their 13th clean sheet of the season.
“We have a very compact defense because everyone communicates,” defender Ryusei Mogi said. “We shift from side to side and it’s not just our defense in the back. It’s our defense, midfield and strikers. We work together with a high press. It’s practice and communication. We’ve grown that connection and chemistry.”
Wilson came out on the front foot and created four quality scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes. Fernando Martinez put a pair of free kicks on frame and Pindea marauded the right flank to get two shots of his own. The Bruins outshot Mountain View 11-0 in the first half and 18-2 in the game.
“I think that the energy from yesterday just spilled over to today,” Brewer said. “ It’s a momentum thing. IN this playoff atmosphere you either crumble or you shine.”
“Movement off the ball (created) more open spaces than yesterday because they weren’t pressing us enough and we used that to our advantage,” Pineda said.
In the 12th minute, Mogi pushed forward and played a perfect through ball for Andres Martinez. He collected and dribbled into the box on the left side. His shot was saved but Pettyjohn finished his run on the right and was there to redirect the rebound home.
“Yesterday I was more static and today I moved around a lot and they couldn’t keep up with that,” Pettyjohn said. “Passing with the one two’s with less touches than yesterday opened up the game.”
Wilson continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession but only had one more shot on goal until the 36th minute. Mogi’s long throw-in was miscleared by the Mountain View defense and Pettyjohn drilled it into the far side netting off the half volley.
“It puts a fire in you,” Pettyjohn said of scoring early. “You want to go and get that second one.”
Less than a minute before the halftime whistle, Pettyjohn held the ball up at the top of the box. He poked it back to Parada who lashed it in with his left foot for a 3-0 halftime lead.
“We’re good at that because of our practices when we try to generate more space to move the ball and score more goals,” Parada said.
Grayson only needed to make two saves in the game and they came in quick succession at the 50 minute mark. He dove to push a sharp header wide of the post, and then was in perfect position to save a header off the resulting corner kick.
Eight minutes later, Parada headed a bouncing ball into the box for Singha De La Cruz. His shot was saved but the rebound went directly to Pettyjohn. He drilled it home with one touch off the half volley for his third goal.
Pineda capped the scoring in the 63rd minute when he chased down a long bouncing ball into the box and chipped the goalkeeper.
Brewer was able to get most of his bench into the game late which allowed the starters to celebrate their teammates play from a celebratory sideline.
“Now we need to keep our heads straight and focus on the game and not the other team,” Pettyjohn said of his team’s approach to the quarterfinal on Wednesday.
