El Rancho Head Coach Domininc Picon (left) receives CIF Championship Plaque from Principal Sam Genis after the Dons 4-2 victory
By Tony Solorzano
(Downey) – Two goals by Francisco Lara helped El Rancho overcome Oak Hills to capture the CIF Southern Section Division 4 Boys Soccer Championship in a 4-2 victory Saturday morning at Warren High’s Justice Stadium.
It was no mistake that head coach Dominic Picon was wearing a shirt from the last time the Dons (23-2-1) won a CIF title, the 2002-2003 season, when El Rancho was declared co-champions with La Palma Kennedy. The Dons were facing off against a still-young Bulldogs squad (23-3-3) who reached last year’s Division 6 Finals against Mountain View, but like last year’s effort, the Bulldogs fell short, so on this day, Picon had other plans for the shirt.
“I’m going to retire it now,” Picon said after the Dons’ victory. “They were a special group of boys and these are a special group of boys.”
In the first half, the Dons got on the board midway through the half on Alejandro Haro’s goal on Bulldogs goalkeeper Ricardo Ramirez in the 23rd minute. However, in the 34th minute, Brett Croft evened the score with a shot past Dons goalie David Lopez. But the tie game would last only one minute as Lara scored the first of his two goals in the 35th minute, putting the Dons up 2-1 at the half.
In the second half the Bulldogs evened the score on Juan Nuño’s goal from a pass by Miguel Vilchis from the left side of the box in the 54th minute. However, Lara put the Dons back up on top with his second goal of the match at the 65th minute.
Six minutes later, the Dons increased the lead as Erik Argueta dribbled in a free kick past Ramirez at the 71st minute to ice the win.
Argueta understood the importance of the win. “We wanted to represent the school and the history the team has,” Argueta said after the game. “This was really important for us.”
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