The Moore League got things started right on the first day of league play, as the Millikan Rams and the Cabrillo Jaguars, likely to be the first and second-place teams in the league, clashed in a defensive struggle that showcased one of the city’s newest, and closest rivalries.  Rod Petkovic, coach of the Rams, is an institution, having notched over 500 wins while at Millikan, and Pat Noyes, the Jaguars’ coach, has a young squad this year, representing the league’s youngest school.  After the defensive dust had settled, experience won the afternoon, as the Rams (1-0) game away with a 1-0 victory over Cabrillo (0-1).

From the start, it was obvious that both teams were so evenly matched, and so strong defensively, that it would take a mistake to tip the balance.  Millikan’s defense, anchored by Manuel Estrada, bullied the speedy, undersized Jaguars attack all afternoon, while Cabrillo keeper Jose Duron (a four-year starter) played 79 minutes and 45 seconds of near-perfect soccer.  Cabrillo had a chance early that was cleared by Estrada, and then it was a midfield possession battle for most of the first 40 minutes.  In the 18^th minute, a Ram drop pass back to the goalie didn’t have quite enough velocity on it, and the Jaguars almost chased it down in time to nudge it in, coming up just a half-step short.  Moments later senior standout Phillip Regalado headed a throw-in on goal, but watched it get snatched from the air by the Rams’ keeper. 

Then it was Millikan’s turn, with an on-target corner that was batted away by Duron, and a transition try that Duron had to leap to knock away.  Unfortunately his attempt to bat it out of bounds was a little narrow, and it deflected off the post back into play right in front of the goal, where Millikan’s Jose Torres was waiting to bang it in, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead in the 26^th minute.  Cabrillo had another good chance later in the half, when Fernando Jaime crossed the ball just a few feet from the goal line, but there was no Jaguar follow to chip it in.

Cabrillo possessed the ball for most of the second half, but could never find a way to use their speed to penetrate the collapsed Rams defense, which turned away try after try, including two within about ten seconds, the second an Armando Padilla rebound shot that was very close, bouncing off the post and then down, just shy of the goal.  “I thought it was in,” said coach Noyes after the game.  Padilla did too, celebrating for a brief second before realizing the ball was still live.  The Rams’ physicality held the line for the rest of the game, and Millikan came away with the narrow win.

“They played very inspired soccer today.” said Petkovic, “We played maybe our worst game of the year.  That’s not to take anything away from them, but we are emotionally tired.  We were one step slower.”  Of Torres’ winning score, Petkovic said, “It was a lucky goal—right place, right time.”  As the Rams are ranked second in CIF-SS (behind defending champion Santa Margarita), it’s understandable that Petkovic’s standards are so high for his team that he wasn’t satisfied, even with a win.  “It was a flat day.  Sometimes a win feels like a loss.”

Noyes, on the other hand, was very upbeat about his team’s performance.  “I like the way we played, I thought we played them very evenly.  I used some younger players today, and we had some chances but didn’t get a score.  That’s just soccer.”

The finer points of the beautiful game were on display in this defensive struggle, and it’s entirely possible that these two teams will win their next month’s worth of contests, setting up an all-important second game at Cabrillo at the end of January.  Judging from how tight the first battle was, the rematch could be a doozy.