The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
It’s been decades since Lakewood boys’ soccer reached a CIF Southern Section semifinal. Instead of looking nervous in their quarterfinal at home on Tuesday, the Lancers were calm and confident while showing their patented passion in a 2-0 victory over Knight.
“This is how we are, we’re cold blooded,” said Lakewood senior David Sandoval, who scored the opening goal at the end of the first half.
The victory sends Lakewood to the semifinals for the first time since 1985. These have also been the first playoffs wins for the Lancers since 2014.
“It gives me chills just talking about it,” said Lakewood coach Alex Diaz. “I think it started in the summer. Last year was unfortunate to have three losses all year and not make the playoffs. The players set their own goals and it says ‘Unfinished Business’ on our classroom wall.”
Sandoval’s 39th minute goal gave Lakewood its lead, and then while defending well in the second half it opened up for sophomore Michael Gutierrez to double the lead in the 74th minute.
“Winning more games just gives us more motivation,” said Gutierrez.
Lakewood junior goalkeeper Diego Ortiz made a pair of point-blank saves in each half to record the clean sheet. He and Gutierrez think that time on the field together helped the Lancers stay calm and in control throughout the game.
“We just have good chemistry and that builds us up to not be nervous,” said Ortiz.
Both teams had plenty of chances to score in the first half while earning five shots each. Ortiz made his first huge save in the 23rd minute by being in the right place.
“It’s all about positioning, if I have my positioning right I can just put my hands up and make the save like I did,” said Ortiz.
Just before halftime, a long ball forward played Sandoval into space on the near sideline. He dribbled past two Knight defenders to the edge of the 18-yard box where he bent his shot into the far side netting.
Knight earned a string of set pieces early in the second half to threaten the Lakewood goal, but Ortiz said that staying compact in the middle helped the Lancers defense clear any chances. Knight only had one shot on goal after halftime, and that was the second point-blank save that Ortiz made with his shoulder.
“He’s been big for us all year and kept us in tight games,” said Diaz of his three-year starter in goal.
“I’ve been doing a lot of training in the offseason,” said Ortiz. “I just want to get better and better. It brings me here.”
After surviving the wave of balls into the box, Lakewood started gaining momentum going forward on counter attacks. Diaz moved Gutierrez to the right side just after the hour mark, and that’s where he found the space to drive into the box and score a similar goal to Sandoval’s and put the game away.
“He just loves the pressure,” Diaz said of Gutierrez. “I put pressure on him and he takes it and runs with it.”
Lakewood will host Savanna in the semifinals on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
“We have to just keep believing and doing what we’ve been doing all year,” said Diaz. “We’re probably one of the hardest working teams out there.”
