The562’s high school soccer coverage for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Long Beach Poly soccer alum Kennedy Justin.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The Wilson Bruins saw their postseason hopes come to a swift end in the first round of the Division 3 bracket on a frustrating 1-0 loss to the visiting Palmdale Falcons on Tuesday evening.
The loss came down to missed opportunities for Wilson’s offense, lowlighted by a failed penalty kick in the second half from senior Yair Gonzalez.
Gonzalez drew the 47th-minute penalty on a probing run towards the right of the goal line, only to be taken down by the keeper. But the cheers from the Wilson sideline quickly turned to silence as the ensuing attempt sailed over the goal and rejuvenated the visiting Falcons.
The Bruins struggled to shake off the momentum swing as junior Falcon Miguel Vela got free up the right sideline several minutes after the penalty on a midfield volley from Daniel Peraza. Vela finished across goal to give Palmdale the go-ahead score in the 56th minute.
“That was our moment. We were already banking that we were going to make [the penalty]. The players selected [Gonzalez], and I think that they live with that, and they’re proud of that decision,” said Wilson head coach CJ Brewer. “You can’t go into what ifs. Life is all about taking the things that happen and adjusting from there. So we continued to make adjustments and tried to keep the ball on their end and tried to execute, but we just couldn’t put it in the net.”
Wilson’s best chance for the equalizer came in a chaotic 67th minute after a high-arching ball hit off the Palmdale crossbar. As the ball bounced back into play, senior midfielder Manny Alonso charged the goal and got off a soft header that hit the crossbar as well. Wilson substitute Noah Baleto attempted to get off a shot on the rebound but the ball was blocked out of bounds.
Multiple players went down in those frantic seconds, including Palmdale’s keeper and Wilson starter Ethan Guiterrez. Both were ushered off the field with trainers and treated for head and ankle injuries, respectively. Neither returned to the game.
Wilson could not capitalize against Palmdale’s backup keeper, recording just one serious shot attempt in the 76th minute that sailed over the goal.
“We did everything that we wanted them to do. We took away what we saw on film from them, and we made it so they couldn’t play their strengths,” said Brewer. “It’s just that they had a couple chances and they executed on one.”
Both teams felt each other out in the opening minutes of this game before Palmdale dictated the pace in the final 20 minutes of the first half. The Bruins found a little spark just before halftime on a free kick that found the head of Guiterrez, but went well wide of the goal.
That boost carried over after halftime as the Bruins played as the aggressor to start the second half, which led to the penalty kick.
But in the end those limited chances were few and far between for a rally.
“It’s fun coaching high school because you can coach them as players and as people. I see them every day and I make them better people. So, I connect this to life, and they poured everything they had into it, so they should be proud of the result from a wider lens,” said Brewer of his final message to the team. “I’m really happy with this group. They worked extremely hard, and I felt that we dominated today’s game. Things didn’t just land the way that we wanted them to and we didn’t execute the chances that we were given.”
