Soccer boys lose to Titans, Falcons

By Joe Naiman

Ramona High School’s boys soccer team lost a pair of 4-1 games Jan. 24 at Poway and Jan. 26 at home against Torrey Pines.

Despite the final results, Ramona scored the first goal in the Poway match and was able to tie Torrey Pines before allowing that game’s final three goals.

“With the caliber of our team I don’t just want to go out there and compete; I want to win,” said Coach Michael Jordan.

That is possible, as evidenced by Ramona’s league-opening win Jan. 17 against Rancho Bernardo, but it requires the Bulldogs to be at their best.

“Our margin of error against these teams is a lot smaller,” Jordan said.

Ramona’s goal against Poway took place in the first five minutes after Carlos Bustos made a run on the outside before crossing the ball to Julio Velasco. Velasco then placed the ball into the net.

“Beautiful ball. Carlos made a great run,” Jordan said.

The first half also included a shoulder injury to Ramona defender Connor Maruna, ending his day on the field. Within a two-minute period midway in the first half, Poway scored on a direct kick play, in which one of the Titans ran across the field to direct the ball into the goal, and on a penalty kick.

“We had a couple of opportunities in the second half but just didn’t do it,” Jordan said.

Maruna started against Torrey Pines but was taken out of the game. The Bulldogs also faced the Falcons without starting defensive midfielder Abraham Cabrera, who had played every game of the season prior to the knee injury.

The Falcons scored the only goal of the first half.

“Our boys played just really lethargic and apathetic,” Jordan said.

Jordan made some position switches at halftime.

“They came out in the second half just gangbusters,” Jordan said.

In the second half Alejandro Romero took a shot that went off the crossbar, Andy Garcia was in position for the rebound and took a shot that tied the game at a goal apiece.

Torrey Pines then scored twice in the next minute.

“Didn’t even give us time to relish the momentum shift,” Jordan said.

Jordan cannot recall a previous high school game in which three goals were scored within one minute.

“It was mind-boggling,” he said.

Ramona goalkeeper Jesse Bonilla made six saves against Poway and seven against Torrey Pines.

“Without Jesse, our goalkeeper, we would be getting blown out of games,” Jordan said.

The Bulldogs begin the second round of league play Feb. 2 at Rancho Bernardo.

The loss to Torrey Pines left Ramona with an 8-8-2 overall season record and a 1-3 league figure.