Los Alamitos repels Canyon attack and advances to boys soccer semifinals – Orange County Register

LOS ALAMITOS — In the face of strong offensive attack from Canyon’s boys’ soccer team, Los Alamitos goaltender Anthony Gomez prevented Canyon from scoring in Wednesday night’s CIF-SS Division 3 quarterfinals.

The Griffins’ defense sent the game into overtime and Demitrious Tanks scored to give Los Alamitos a 1-0 win.

Los Alamitos (16-6-3) hosts Newport Harbor in the semifinals on Saturday.

Newport Harbor defeated Cabrillo on penalties on Wednesday.

“We had to have a lot of composure,” said Gomez, who finished with 10 saves. “We had to stay strong at the back and be mentally strong. Their striker, number 9 (Kayvon Monfared), is tough. We kept tracking him down and stayed calm.”

Canyon (14-6-5) started aggressively on offense and tried to put a shot past Gomez but couldn’t.

The Griffins, on the other hand, didn’t get a shot on goal until the 35th minute of the game.

With the game being scoreless at halftime, Los Alamitos made adjustments for the second half.

“They have a very unique system,” Los Alamitos coach Donovan Martinez said of Canyon. “They have three behind and two wide that defensively pinch, stand up and attack and then they have two mids. Lots of numbers in the background in that first half. With our two in front it was very challenging.

Post-game interview with Los Alamitos’ Donovan Martinez as the Griffins advance to the semifinals!@ocvarsity @LosAlAthletics @lossoccer1 @asb_los @LosAlamitosHigh @LosAlamitosUSD pic.twitter.com/MsCL9wJVKm

— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 16, 2023

“They are a very good team and were dominant in the first half. We were very lucky that our goalkeeper made some really good saves that kept him out of our net. Realistically, they had some great opportunities that they should have taken. We made adjustments and analyzed what we did wrong. We were able to get our outside back a little higher, attack a little higher and defend a little higher. That really seemed to cause them some problems which leveled the game in the second half.

The Griffins leveled the match and attacked on offense, but Canyon stopped a goal at the back of the field to send it into overtime.

Los Alamitos ended the game in the seventh minute of overtime with a sidekick that Tanks used for the winner.

“It was a perfect cross,” said Tanks. “I just typed it. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Post game interview with Los Alamitos’ Demitrious Tanks who scored the golden goal to send Los Al to the semis!@ocvarsity @LosAlAthletics @lossoccer1 @asb_los @LosAlamitosHigh @LosAlamitosUSD pic.twitter.com/9m29VhjhoE

— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 16, 2023