SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Composure is crucial. A game like this, two of the best teams in the nation, facing off for the first of two league games with bragging rights at stake. A league championship at stake. A playoff seeding at stake.
Yeah, big game.
But all it takes is a moment. And that’s what happened on Friday, when Orange County’s top-ranked boys soccer team, Mater Dei, couldn’t keep its composure and second-ranked JSerra could. The Lions took advantage of it, scoring a one-sided 4-0 Trinity League victory.
JSerra defender Gavin Allegaert controls the during a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra defender Miles Burton clears the ball during a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra midfielder Brody Martinez heads the ball on a corner kick during a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei midfielder Alex Noughton clears the ball during a Trinity League game at JSerra High School on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra striker Cameron Shafizadeh, left, and Mater Dei midfielder Danny Carriedo battle for the ball during a Trinity League game between the two teams on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra players celebrate one of their goals during a 4-0 win over top-ranked Mater Dei during a Trinity League game on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra defender Gavin Allegaert controls the during 4-0 win in a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra defender Tanner Casey protects the ball from Mater Dei players during a Trinity League game between the two teams on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra head boys’ soccer coach Erik Kirsch talks to his players during a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei goalkeeper Nate Enriquez scoops up the ball during a Trinity League game against JSerra on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra forward Gavin Allegaert, right, heads the ball during a Trinity League home game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei head boys’ soccer coach Sean Ganey talks to his players during a Trinity League game against JSerra on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra forward Aquiles Rodriguez, right, controls the ball during a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra striker Cameron Shafizadeh, left, and Mater Dei midfielder Max Marmaud battle for the ball during a Trinity League game between the two teams on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
JSerra head boys’ soccer coach Erik Kirsch talks to his players during a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei head boys’ soccer coach Sean Ganey watches from the sideline during a Trinity League game against JSerra on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
Show Caption1 of 16JSerra defender Gavin Allegaert controls the during a Trinity League game against Mater Dei on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)
ExpandIt’s the first loss for Mater Dei (9-1 overall, 2-1 league), the defending CIF Southern Section Open Division champion, while JSerra (6-0, 3-0) continued its unblemished run this season. JSerra, a CIF-SS champion two years ago, will have to play at Mater Dei on Jan. 29.
“I like intensity, I like composure, and I like commitment, and I think that’s what the boys brought today,” JSerra coach Erik Kirsch said. “Even though it wasn’t the prettiest game, that was a typical CIF final type match – the nerves, the back and forth – that’s where the composure comes in.”
The moment that was so crucial occurred 20 minutes into the match when Mater Dei senior defender, Dalton Bulowki, received a red card for excessive force when he struck Jake Tatch in the abdomen after a clean tackle. Bulowski, a key defensive player for the Monarchs, got caught and sent to the bench.
Mater Dei was left for the next 60 minutes of game time playing a man down.
The penalty set up Angel Reyes’ free kick for JSerra from about 35 yards out, which was headed into the goal by Miles Burton for a 1-0 lead.
Before Mater Dei could finish stewing over the Bulowski foul and Burton’s goal, JSerra made it 2-0 when Tatch rifled an assist to Tanner Casey, whose indefensible header found the upper right corner.
“I saw his determination to put the team on his back,” Hersch said of Casey. “He saw the moment, that this is when I can put my team in a winning position.”
In a span of about a minute, the tenor of the game had changed and, who knows, maybe the tenor of a season.
“Momentum changer,” said Gavin Allegaert, a UC San Diego signee who earned praise from Kirsch for his smart and assertive performance. “We could see that they were rattled and we took advantage of it.”
“Once I saw the red card, I knew it would change the game completely,” Tatch said. “(Bulowski) won a tackle cleanly on me, and for no reason, punched me in the stomach. It really fired me up.”
JSerra’s Jake Tatch had an assist, a goal and drew a key foul leading to another goal in the Lions’ 4-0 victory over No. 1-ranked Mater Dei in a Trinity League game Friday, Jan. 10. (Photo by Martin Henderson)The one goal was going to be enough for JSerra to win behind goalkeeper Liam Johnson, but the second goal “gave us a lot more leeway to play,” said Casey, whose free kick assisted Brody Martinez in the 56th minute for a 3-0 lead. And when the Lions hit three goals, they got really inspired.
“Coach Jim Madrid told us if we scored four goals, the team would get free milkshakes,” Casey said.
Madrid is the mental fitness coach and, apparently, team prophet: He wrote “4-0” on a whiteboard in the team room, predicting the final outcome.
It was free shakes in the 61st minute when Tatch scored from point blank on an assist from Hudson Garner. JSerra finished with seven shots on goal. The Lions were certainly efficient.
Mater Dei had dominated the game’s first 20 minutes, registering four of its six shots on goal.
Coach Sean Ganey said he was proud of his team for the way it battled despite playing with 10 players to JSerra’s 11.
“When it’s 2-0, you have to dig deep and ask a lot of people’s character,” he said. “Obviously, being down to 10 men you have to take some chances, but most important to me is that not one player took a play off, not one player hung his head.”
Next time, they’ll need to keep their heads too.
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