Sports
BOYS SOCCER: Santa Cruz Rolls Past Harbor
Chronopoulos scores twice in Cardinals eighth straight win.
Santa Cruz 3, Harbor 1
The Star: John Chronopoulos tallied his 19th and 20th goals of the season in the win over cross town rival Harbor on Wednesday. The gifted junior headed home the first goal of the game and nearly had a second header score a few moments later. Chronopoulos scored in the ninth minute and iced the game with a left-footed strike that bounced off the left post into the back of the net in the 68th minute. The second goal put Santa Cruz ahead 3-0.
The Turning Point: Ahead by one early on in the match, Santa Cruz couldn’t find a way to extend its advantage until midway through the second half. Unselfish play from the Cardinals front line allowed the ball to be touched by three different players before speedy sophomore Yosef Richardson tapped the ball safely into the low left corner of the cage. Santa Cruz took a 2-0 lead in the 56th minute and eventually won the SCCAL bout, 3-1.
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The Quotes: "It was important for us to get the next goal." —Santa Cruz forward and goal scoring machine John Chronopoulos said about his teams urgency to get out to a fast start in the second half Wednesday. “This team is better than last year. Everyone is fitting in nicely.”
The 2009-10 Santa Cruz squad won a Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title and followed that up with a Central Coast Section Boys Soccer Division III Championship.
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“Our touches were a little slow in the midfield today,” Harbor head coach Devin Tomson said. “They’re (Santa Cruz) very fast in the middle. You can’t make mistakes against them.”
What's Next? Santa Cruz will play at San Lorenzo Valley on Friday, while Harbor squares off against Soquel at Depot Park also on Friday afternoon.
Bottom Line: After a quick score in the first 10 minutes of play, the potent Santa Cruz attack kept coming but was met by a feisty Harbor defense that held strong and made its opponent work hard before taking control of the game. Pirates keeper Gerardo Moran came through with two sensational stops in the first half, keeping his team within one goal going into the half. Santa Cruz finally broke through and doubled its advantage in the 56th minute. Back-to-back Cardinals goal made the score 3-0 before Harbor captain Eric Mendez put his team on the board with a nice hot shot that slipped into the left side of the net.
