ONTARIO – The Ontario Reign scored three second period goals and went on to beat the visiting Colorado Eagles, 4-2, Saturday night in front of 8,984 fans at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
The Reign got goals from center Bill Bagron, forward Kyle Kraemer, defenseman Mike Montgomery and right wing Derek Couture in the victory.
The win was music to the ears of jetlagged defenseman and Vancouver, British Columbia native Alan Mazur, who picked up two assists after just joining the Reign Saturday night straight from playing for Stars in Dundee, Scotland. In fact, Mazur said he had just been in four countries in the past 24 hours: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada and finally the United States.
“It was a good game,” Mazur said. “It feels good to get a win. I thought we played hard. We had a couple of lapses, but we did OK.”
Mazur added he knows he is going to enjoy playing in Southern California.
“The rink is nice,” he said. “The fans are unreal. It’s really nice.”
Up, 1-0, following the first period, the Reign doubled their lead on a power play goal by Kraemer at the 7:34 mark. Up on a two-man advantage, Kraemer put the puck past the left of Colorado goalkeeper Kyle Jones for his eighth goal of the year.
Defenseman Pat Bowen and Mazur both picked up assists on the play.
Just 90 seconds later the Reign made in 3-0 when Montgomery took a loose puck in the Colorado end and put it into the net. It was Montgomery’s first goal of the year with right wing Brady Calla getting the assist.
Colorado got one back five minutes later, but the Reign put the lead back at three at the 18:35 mark when Couture took a pass from the left from Mazur and put the puck in the net. Also getting an assist there was defenseman Adrian Van de Mosselaer.
In addition, Ontario outshot the Eagles, 34-32.
IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? The Ontario Reign announced Monday that they have suspended forward Francois Brisebois, and are maintaining the rookie’s rights.
Why? Because the The 5-foot-10 forward is leaving the team to pursue his education with hopes of attending medical school.
Brisebois, 23, signed with the Reign at the beginning of the 2011-12 season, missing just one game. In his first ECHL go-around, Brisebois was the Reign’s leading rookie scorer with 25 points (10g, 15a) in 38 games.
The Montreal, Quebec native spent four years playing in the ECAC for Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., where he amassed a total of 86 points (40g, 46a) in 145 games. Toward the end of the 2010-11 season, Brisebois made to the move to the AHL for his first professional appearance, playing in three games with the Binghamton Senators.
IN PRO SOCCER, the Los Angeles Galaxy announced last week that the club has re-signed midfielder David Beckham to a two-year contract, extending his stay with the MLS Cup Champions.
Beckham, who had the best season of his five-year MLS career in 2011, helped lead the Galaxy to their first MLS Cup title since 2005.
Since joining the club as the first Designated Player in MLS History, the Galaxy have reached MLS Cup twice and won the Supporters’ Shield twice, while also seeing the club reach new heights in terms of international recognition and popularity.
“This was an important decision for me,” Galaxy midfielder David Beckham said. “I had many offers from clubs from around the world, however, I’m still passionate about playing in America and winning trophies with the Galaxy.
“I’ve seen firsthand how popular soccer is now in the States and I’m as committed as ever to growing the game here.”
In five years with the Galaxy, Beckham was twice named to the MLS All-Star Team and finished the 2011 season with a career-best 15 assists, earning him a spot on the MLS Best XI. Beckham’s individual success helped translate to team success last season as the club repeated as Supporters’ Shield winners, finishing the season with a 19-5-10 record for 67 points, which were the second most in MLS history.
That form continued into the postseason where the Galaxy won all four of their postseason games, culminating with a 1-0 win over Houston at The Home Depot Center in MLS Cup
2011. Beckham had an assist in that game, just as he did in each of the club’s first three playoffs games, giving him a league-best four postseason assists on the year.
IN MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, the tradition will continue in 2012, as the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes will host the Azusa Pacific University Cougars in an exhibition match-up for the sixth straight year at The Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga, on April 3with the first pitch scheduled for a special start time of 5:05 p.m.
Tickets are just $5 and the proceeds will once again benefit the Cougar athletic department.
The seven-inning game will again serve as a tune-up for the Quakes, who will kick off their 140-game California League season just two nights later, as they’ll host their division rivals, the Inland Empire 66ers on April 6 at 7 p.m.
The Quakes versus Cougars has become a tradition that a lot of fans look forward to said Quake Vice President and General Manager Grant Riddle.
“We’re proud that the Quakes can continue to help support the APU baseball team and athletic department and hope that this year’s contest is as exciting as the last few.
For tickets, contact APU assistant coach Drew Evans at 626-815-6000 ext. 3258.
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications. He can be reached at shelsegal@yahoo.com.
ROSMEAD – The Rosemead High girls’ basketball team really is a family affair.
With 16-year-old junior Melody Gauthier making most of the big plays for the team, her father Jay Gauthier is the head coach and brother Jay Gauthier, Jr. is the assistant coach for the Panthers.
And with all that in mind, Melody Gauthier really thinks the team is going somewhere this year.
“The team is really good,” she said. “We have a couple of girls who are playing hard and helping out a lot.”
She added the season began slowly for her, but that now she’s picked up her pace.
“It started out kind of rusty, but now I’m getting better,” she said. “I’m shooting a lot more for practice in the gym. My brother has been helping me out a lot one-on-one and I’m getting my post game down and scoring inside,”
In addition, Melody Gauthier said she likes playing for her dad and brother as it is just something natural.
“I like it a lot because I’ve always been really close to them and we’ve always had a relationship at home outside of basketball,” she said. “My dad is a pastor, so I always help out at church. My brother is the youth pastor so I help him out with that and we do a lot of youth group things together.”
At 5-foot-8, Melody Gauthier is already looking past next year and at playing college ball.
“I have to be in a little better shape, get stronger, get a lot better with technique, such as better dribbling and rebounding, defense and scoring,” she said. “My whole life I’ve always wanted to play basketball in college.”
Melody Gauthier’s father said his daughter is a lot of fun to have on the team.
“She’s very easy to coach,” Jay Gauthier said. “I also had the opportunity to coach her in club ball when she was younger. We’ve always had a really good relationship. I don’t think I’m harder on her too much. At times I can be because I know what she’s capable of when she’s not doing it, but that’s very rare.”
He added she is great to have on the squad for the Panthers.
“The best thing about having her on a team whether she’s my daughter or not is it’s like having a coach on the floor,” he said. “She understands what’s going on completely.”
Jay Gauthier, Jr. said it’s just like having a best friend out there on the court.
“It’s fun,” he said of having his sister on the team and adding they’re six years apart. “Aside from my wife, she’s my best friend. I’ve been playing with her since she was 3 or 4 years old and barely old enough to walk. Coaching her is my most loved hobby.”
And how is it working not just with his sister but also for his father?
“My dad and I work together every day in business,” he said. “Honestly, it’s nothing new. Everything we do we do together.”
IN PREP BOYS’ BASKETBALL, the Mark Keppel High boys’ basketball team got off to a quick start and clobbered visiting Schurr High Friday night, 57-32, in an Almont League game.
Matthew Low was the Aztecs’ high scorer with 11 points, while Kyler Lee knocked in 10 in the victory.
Aztec coach Hung Duong was very pleased with Keppel’s performance on the court.
“The kids played great, played really hard,” he said. “We were ready to play today. It was a home game and we had to protect our home court.”
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and associate editor/sports editor of the West Valley Journal (Calif.). He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
This is the year that Indy Cars are to return to Auto Club Speedway.
But with an Indy car fatality on a NASCAR track last year in Las Vegas, some – such as NASCAR superstar Jimmie Johnson – are saying that Indy cars are not safe racing on oval tracks.
However, Auto Club Speedway and Indy Car officials – along with another high-profile NASCAR driver – disagree. They all say there is no need for concern when Indy returns to Fontana on Sept. 24 and 25.
The disagreement stems from an accident at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 16 that took the life of Dan Wheldon. However, there are differences between the two NASCAR tracks among other things that make Auto Club Speedway an ideal venue for Indy car racing, said track spokesman David Talley.
“I think you have to look at the Indy series,” Talley said. “The Indianapolis 500 is the premier event and it’s an oval track. It is the heritage, the history and the tradition of what these series was built on.”
Talley said the Las Vegas accident was a shame, but should not shut down the series.
“It was certainly an unfortunate accident,” Talley said of Wheldon’s death. “The Indy car series, safety is a priority. They’re all about safety. Unfortunately, this was a perfect storm. There were a lot of different things going on at Vegas that were bad timing and unfortunate for everyone.”
Which means these things won’t repeat themselves at Auto Club Speedway, Talley said.
“We are different,” he said. “There are several variables when comparing Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We’re a two-mile track. They’re one and a half miles. They have 20-degree banking. We have 14-degree.”
But there’s more, Talley said.
“The final thing is Auto Club Speedway was built for Indy car racing by Roger Penske,” Talley said. “You look at the new tracks and they’re built for NASCAR and high banking to get the speeds up. They’re shorter tracks, which means there’s less time to react.”
Talley added the track has put in more safety features in the last decade since the final time Indy cars raced in Fontana.
“We’ve done stuff to the track since Indy cars left in 2003,” he said. “In 2004 we put up safer barriers. They’re always being upgraded and reviewed. We’ve paved grass areas, so that’s not an issue any longer and we’ve paved most of the backstretch.”
In addition, Talley said the speedway has not made any knee-jerk changes to the track in wake of the Las Vegas incident.
Will Phillips, vice president of technology for the series, agreed with Talley, saying no sudden changes to the track at this point are necessary.
“INDYCAR continues to look at every track it goes to with safety in mind,” Phillips said. “We have had discussions with both driver groups and engineering groups from all the teams and intend to do further testing with the cars to ensure that to the best of our ability
the right decisions are made. INDYCAR inspected the track prior to the testing carried out in November and we will continue to follow its customary protocol of on-site inspections and on-track testing to confirm the compatibility of the new car to the racetrack.”
And in a published interview, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart said that while the Wheldon death is a tragedy, it doesn’t mean everything gets changed all at once in any sport.
“It really boils down to the basics of, it’s auto racing,” Stewart said. “Auto racing, football, hockey, they are all dangerous sports. But we all love to do it and the fans love to watch it. It’s just an aspect of our sport and everybody involved knows that and understands that and accepts it going into that.”
But Johnson – a multi-time NASCAR champ – was adamant about not running Indy cars anymore on ovals just a few days after the Las Vegas accident, as was reported in several publications and broadcast reports.
“I wouldn’t run them on ovals. There’s just no need to,” Johnson said at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. “Those cars are fantastic for street circuits, for road courses. I hate, hate, hate that this tragedy took place. But hopefully they can learn from it and make those cars safer on ovals somehow.
“I don’t know how they can really do it. Myself, I have a lot of friends that race in that series, and I’d just rather see them on street circuits and road courses. No more ovals.”
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist for the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
Auto Club Speedway — formerly known as California Speedway — used to pack them in by the tens of thousands every Labor Day weekend as NASCAR buzzed through Southern California.
Then the Great Recession hit.
The Fontana speedway has been racked by dwindling attendance and even lost its fall NASCAR race, forcing it to look to other avenues to stay open.
But open it is, much to the delight of David Talley, spokesman for the track.
“This track is in use more than 300 days a year,” Talley said. “We’ve got stock car driving schools, open wheel driving schools, motorcycle schools. We’ve got the dragway. We’ve got commercials shooting here, movies and TV shows shooting here. We’re open for business 365 days out of the year.”
He said he definitely understands the drop in attendance as the Inland Empire area of Southern California has double-digit unemployment and has been hit especially hard by the recession.
“You can look at the grandstands and see how it has affected this place, including the entire community,” Talley said. “The Inland Empire at one point led the nation in foreclosures. You can’t expect someone to buy a race ticket when they can’t make the mortgage on their house.
“You look back at the day when we were packing the place and this was the place to be, and I look forward to the day when it’s packed again.”
THOSE DAYS MIGHT BE coming very soon.
NASCAR returns to Fontana the weekend of March 23-25, 2012, and the Izod IndyCar series will be in town on Sept. 14-15.
Much excitement is building over the IndyCar event, which is currently scheduled to conclude the IndyCar Series season.
And to help the fans afford to come to the speedway, there are all kinds of promotions, Talley said.
“We’ve done all kinds of things from lowering prices to $35, which includes everything in the FanZone that includes kids’ stuff,” he said. “We’ve added escalators and shaded structures. The fact is, we’re more fun and family friendly. We all know that NASCAR is a family sport.”
With losing the fall NASCAR race, the speedway won’t have any trouble rebounding in the spring, Talley said.
“Our anticipation is we thought we have to wait a year to see what the repercussion was of losing a race,” Talley said. “But we saw the large attendance the last race (in March of 2011) — it was our largest crowd since 2006.”
In fact, NASCAR put that attendance at a whopping 88,000 for that event. That really helps when Talley battles the naysayers about racing in the Southern California area.
“People say this isn’t a motor sports market, but I think our last race proved a lot of people wrong,” Talley said. “Just going by our renewal rates, we’re over last year. I have no doubt that we’ll have a nice crowd for our NASCAR race and will have a great crowd for our IndyCar race.”
If Talley’s estimates — and optimism — are true, the Auto Club Speedway is in for a terrific 2012.
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist with the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
Baseball camp is coming to town with pro players and 66ers are hoping for boost from Pujols signing
2011/12/23
If you’re between the ages of 9 and 18, and you’re interested in learning lots of baseball skills from pro athletes, make sure to check out the Fourth Annual James Guerrero Holiday Baseball Camp this next week.
The camp will be held Dec. 19-21 at Summit High School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.
Guerrero is a former Fontana High School star who went on to play professional baseball, and he will be joined by some talented players who are competing at the highest levels right now, including Tony Gwynn Jr. and former Fontana A.B. Miller pitchers Jesse Chavez and Robert Fish.
• Chavez has signed a free agent deal with the Toronto Blue Jays (they’ll be at Angel Stadium May 3 through 6, 2012). Chavez was in the Kansas City Royals organization last year and has also played with the Atlanta Braves after coming up to the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Fish is back with the Los Angeles Angels organization and should be at Double A Arkansas this year. He was drafted by the New York Yankees as a Rule 5 draft out of the Angels organization a while back and was then claimed off waivers by Kansas City, but has since been returned to Southern California.
Guerrero said he is very excited to have these players at the camp and is encouraging future young stars to sign up. The cost is $100 for pre-registration and $125 for same-day registration. A T-shirt and lunch will be included.
For more information, contact Guerrero at (909) 278-1856.
SPEAKING of the Angels, the recent signing of Albert Pujols to that mega-contract has spurred thousands of fans to buy season tickets, and the Inland Empire 66ers — which are the high Single A affiliate of the Angels — are hoping some of that enthusiasm rubs off on them.
“We’re excited to have this signing,” said Sam Farber, director of broadcasting for the 66ers (and a very funny guy to listen to during the summer). “Any time there’s some buzz from the Major League team, there’s going to be some for the minor league teams. It’s good for everybody.
We’re excited for the Angels and are looking forward to seeing him play at the Big A!”
In honor of Pujols’ arrival, the 66ers have some special ticket plans now on sale that include tickets to Angel Stadium of Anaheim. For more information, call (909) 888-9922 or log onto www.66ers.com.
IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL, Quincy Brewer, coach of the San Bernardino Valley College team who is in his fourth year at the helm, thinks this could be a good year for the Wolverines.
That’s if the team can play together.
“Once we develop some chemistry, we’ll be a good basketball team,” Brewer said. “We have a very solid group. We’ve got guys at each position who haven’t played together before. The challenge is to get everybody a lot more cohesive.”
Brewer said he is looking to Aaron Moore, Kirvy Gardner and Christian Franklin to lead the team.
On Moore, who was the team’s leading scorer last year as a 6-foot-8 small forward: “He’s becoming a better rebounder and better defender. Last year, he was turning into a more complete player. Just normal growth. He’s getting bigger. He’s going into the weight room. He’s pretty formidable.”
On Gardner, a 6-foot-2 sophomore point guard: “He does well getting us into our offense and also scores very well.”
On Franklin, a 6-foot-4 sophomore shooting guard: “He’s doing a very good job on defense and scoring well, as well.”
A freshman who has helped SBVC is Cameron Lewis, a former standout at Summit High School. One of Lewis’ best games came when he scored 16 points in a win over Santa Monica in November.
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist for the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
ROSEMEAD – You can call Matthew Santos a lot of things. But there’s one thing you can’t call him: selfish.
Santos, a senior point guard with the Don Bosco Technical Institute boys’ basketball team, might have scored 28 points in the team’s opener against San Gabriel High recently, but that’s not the lone part of his game.
“I prefer getting an assist than scoring,” Santos said. “It’s an unselfish attitude and it’s my point guard mentality that everybody gets the ball and gets the open shot.”
At first glance, Santos doesn’t look like he has much stature on the court – he stands just 5 feet, 5 inches tall – but he makes it all count.
“I started playing competitively when I was in the sixth grade,” said Santos, who lives in Pasadena. “My dad always had a ball with him and we’d always shoot around. We still shoot around.”
He added he actually uses his lack of height to his advantage on the court.
“I don’t think (other teams) take me seriously, but once they see me creating opportunities for my teammates and hitting shots, they start taking me seriously,” Santos said.
He also said he enjoys playing for coach Dominic Sermeno.
“I like how we have a good relationship,” Santos said. “It’s more than a coach-player relationship. We can just talk about anything, like colleges, possessions, where I can play and stuff like that.”
Sermeno also had kind words for Santos.
“He can score without a doubt, but he’s also unselfish,” Sermeno said. “What he cares about is the team winning, whether that’s him knocking down the shot or finding a teammate.”
AFTER FINISHING IN FOURTH PLACE A YEAR AGO, East Los Angeles College men’s basketball coach Rob Rivera is hoping to improve upon that record.
“We feel like the biggest things we have are more depth and more size,” Rivera said. “That’s what’s coming in.”
So, who are these players?
“We have a returning center who was all-conference last year – Rafael Morelos – but he’s a little undersized so we really felt we needed to bring in someone to help him with some size and that’s Mark Torres.”
While Morelos is 6 feet, 5 inches, Torres stands at 6 feet, 10 inches.
And what about Torres? Rivera hopes the kid will come into his own this year.
“He had a 22-point game recently versus Citrus College,” Rivera said about Torres. “But he’s been inconsistent and has just shown a small glimpse since then. But he’s a kid who’s being recruited – as is Morelos. With Mark we just need consistency and stability. He just hasn’t shown those things for us.”
Rivera added look to Deon Geary and Albert Chavez to have great seasons.
“Our leading scorer is Geary,” Rivera said. “He’s a sophomore. He’s a combo guard. We need his offense so we need him to score more.”
And on Chavez: “He gives us a lot of energy on both sides of the ball and he’s probably our best shooter. He’s a good three-point shooter. He’s very much an energy player, plays good defense.”
Rivera added he’s hoping this ELAC team will make it to the postseason in 2012.
“We had a really good summer,” Rivera said. “We only got to play eight exhibition games in the summer and we won seven of them, so we put down a standard of playoffs to be our goal.
“We feel like we’re competitive with everybody in the conference. With us it’s just going to be about can we find a collective leadership effort. If we can come together then we will be the team we’re supposed to be.”
THE SCHURR HIGH BOYS’ SOCCER TEAM IS OFF TO a great start and rubbed that in Temple City High’s face on Tuesday with an 8-0 nonleague romp at home that included six second half goals and seven different scorers.
Midfielder Thomas Rodriguez got the scoring going at the 28-minute mark. After he was fouled, he scored on a penalty kick he put into the lower left-hand corner of the goal.
Alex Granados scored nine minutes later as he took a pass across the middle to the wide right of the goal before putting it in the net to make it, 2-0, at the half.
Forward Miguel Ajtun put in two goals of his own at the 57- and 68-minute marks in the second half to seal the victory.
However, Schurr coach Tomas Haynes said there is still more work for the team to do.
“We still haven’t played 100 percent,” Haynes said. “We need to work on conditioning – more running, more getting into shape. We look good, but we got to get better defensively.”
And how will the Almont League season look?
“It’s going to be Montebello, Bell Gardens and us again this year,” he said. “It’ll come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.”
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and sports editor of the West Valley Journal (Calif.). He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
ONTARIO – The Ontario Reign took advantage of two of many Bakersfield Condor penalties and scored two power play goals to win, 2-1, Sunday night at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
In addition, goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper saved 35 of 36 shots, many of them with the Reign down a man.
“Tonight they had some shots from the outside and (Kuemper) came up big for us,” coach Jason Christie said after the game about his netminder. “He’s a focused kid and that’s number one here.”
Christie added he is pleased with the way the team has been playing as of late.
“At the end of the day these guys battle hard,” he said. “We just got to keep getting better and better. It’s such a tight division. We just got to concentrate on what we can do ourselves.”
In addition, he said the team needs to cut down on its own penalties.
“That’s the thing where we need to make sure we simplify our game – we’re focused and we do it easy,” he said.
Ontario scored its first goal just five minutes into the game when forward Matt Tassone took a rebound off the Condor goalkeeper and got it past him. Pat Bowen and Kyle Kraemer were credited with assists.
After a scoreless second period, the Reign made it 2-0 when Geoff Irwin scored unassisted seven minutes into the third period.
SO, WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD for Kuemper? Well, he was named Reebok Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for Nov. 21 through 27. The 21-year-old was 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .961 save percentage. Kuemper stopped 38 shots in a 4-2 win at Bakersfield on Saturday.
Kuemper improved to 7-1-0 with the Reign this season on Sunday and climbed into the ECHL lead with a 1.74 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. He held opponents to two or fewer goals in seven of his eight starts and won five consecutive games to begin the season
before absorbing his first loss, 3-1, to the Thunder on Nov. 19.
Drafted in the sixth round (161st overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native went 2-1-0 in a brief four-game call up to the AHL’s Houston Aeros – affiliate of the Minnesota Wild – at the end of the 2009-10 season.
THINGS THEN GOT EVEN BETTER for Kuemper. As I missed my interview with him after Sunday’s game because he was getting routine treatment (Reign PR guru Laura Tolbirt GUARANTEED me I would have a chance to talk to him later), Kuemper learned on Monday he was being promoted back to the Aeros.
So much for my interview (thanks Laura!), but I wish the rookie all the luck in the world!
IN COLLEGE WOMEN’S SOCCER, the San Bernardino Valley College squad recently took its SoCal Regional’s run to the end. Unfortunately, that end was bitter sweet as the team fell to the 11th seeded Cypress Chargers, 2-1.
Much like last year, SBVC took the Chargers to the brink, after 90 minutes of regulation and two 15-minute overtimes, it was time for penalty kicks once again. SBVC took a 1-0 lead on a corner kick from sophomore defender Breanne Dominguez, which was throttled into the back of the net by sophomore defender Coral Castillo with 5:44 left in the first half. It was Castillo’s first goal of the season and each team went into halftime with SBVC up, 1-0.
The game was locked in a stalemate for the next 48 minutes, as each team looked to take an advantage and could not find a flaw. Then, with 2:10 left in the game, Dominguez slide tackled a Chargers midfielder just inside of the keeper’s box, creating a one-on-one matchup between the Chargers and starting SBVC goal keeper Jennifer Keats. The penalty kick attempt was successful for the Chargers and they equalized the score at 1-1.
SBVC remained offensive minded throughout the remaining moments of the second half, moving everyone forward, an opportunity arrived and sophomore forward Mariela Ortega took a close range shot that just missed the cross bar high.
A few minutes into the overtime period, it appeared that Cypress had scored again, but the head referee called an off-sides penalty on the Chargers and nullified the goal. At the end of the second overtime period, the Chargers switched keepers; with SBVC going first it was an interesting switch.
SBVC’s first attempt, by Ortega missed high, but the Chargers scored, then freshman forward Maddy Horan took a shot that missed, with a chance to win the game the Chargers shooter missed.
On to a third round, freshman defender Diana Hernandez capitalized, tying the PK’s at 1-1, while the Cypress shooter missed. In the fourth round, freshman midfielder Ariel Hernandez pounded a shot into the back of the net giving SBVC the chance to win, if they could stop Cypress and score one more time, the Chargers attempt was blocked by Keats.
Leaving a return trip to the State Finals upon the shoulders of freshman forward Ivana Ramirez and Keats, but the Cypress keeper had to make the save of the game to prevent SBVC from going back. Now it was up to Keats to make the stop, and the Chargers faked Keats one way and kicked the ball the other way, tying the PK’s at 2-2.
Next up for SBVC was sophomore defender Haily Moore who had her shot blocked leaving the game in the hands of Cypress, who scored their third penalty kick goal to secure the win for the 11th seeded Chargers.
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist for the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
SAN BERNARDINO – Several Fontana area players had great seasons and received honors while playing football this fall at San Bernardino Valley College.
One of those players was freshman wide receiver and Fontana A.B. Miller grad Stacy Howard. Howard was named a first team all-Mountain Conference selection for his pivotal role in SBVC receiving corps.
“It feels great,” Howard said about receiving the selection. “Coming over here to (SBVC) I stayed focused and I just had to keep my head right and do things for me.”
Howard added he learned much from the Wolverine coaching staff.
“They all took me under their wing individually and coached me to the best of their abilities and I did what they said,” he said.
In addition, Howard said listening was the best thing he could have done.
“Instead of being a knucklehead I listened to them and went with it,” he said. “My season paid off and things went right.”
Howard played in eight games for SBVC, collecting 40 receptions for 619 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 15.5 yards per catch and 77.4 yards per game. Howard also set the school record for most touchdown receptions in a game with five, versus Victor Valley.
He was first in the conference in receptions, receiving yards per game, scoring and touchdowns.
In week 10 versus Victor Valley, he was named conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Freshman offensive tackle Chris Vasquez, a Bloomington High product, was selected second team for anchoring an offensive line that only gave up just 20 sacks on the year.
Another Bloomington grad, sophomore tight end David Amaro, was selected second team all-Mountain Conference for the second consecutive year.
Amaro played in nine games for SBVC, collecting 13 receptions for 165 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 12.7 yards per catch and 18.3 yards per game.
Sophomore defensive back Jamaal Anderson from Summit High was selected second team all-Mountain Conference as a cornerback and return specialist. Anderson had 16 solo tackles, assisted on 17 tackles, equaling 33 total tackles. He had one forced fumble, recovered one fumble for a 50-yard return and had four interceptions totaling 81 yards.
As a return specialist, he had a total of 623 yards in kick returns. In fact, in the opening game of the season against Chaffey he had 175 yards in kick returns with a long of 63 yards. Anderson had 121 yards in total punt returns with a 92 yard return for a touchdown against Santa Monica.
In week four versus Santa Monica and week six versus Southwestern, he was named Conference Special Teams/All-Purpose Player of the Week.
IN PRO SOCCER, playing in front of a sellout home crowd at The Home Depot Center on Sunday night, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan punched the ball into the net in the 72 minute as the home team defeated Houston Dynamo, 1-0, to win the MLS Cup and capture the 2011 league title.
Donovan ended up with the ball in front of the Houston net after passes from midfielder David Beckham and forward Robbie Keane, allowing him to put the ball past Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall into the right corner of the net.
“This is a sense of elation,” Donovan said about winning the cup. “This has been a long year, a trying year. There are times you get tired and mentally you’re worn down, but (Galaxy coach Bruce Arena) keeps us going and the way (Beckham) has played through injuries the last few weeks, it inspired me.”
Donovan – who was named the game’s MVP – added he is just happy to get the win and not exactly the winning goal.
“The actual goal doesn’t mean a whole lot to me,” he said. “For the last month I’ve been so determined to win I don’t care how the ball went in as long as it went in. The moment the (final) whistle blew was great.”
In addition, Donovan said he really enjoyed the home field advantage.
“The atmosphere was fantastic tonight,” he said. “The stadium was electric and it was wonderful to win it here. I will always remember it.”
Arena praised his team’s efforts after the final victory.
“Tonight, our team played well,” Arena said. “We didn’t do well around the penalty area. There were some goals out there. Give Houston some credit, but it’s been a good year for our team and our organization. We have a good team and we’ve accomplished a lot this year. It’s really tough to have the season we’ve had there in the (CONCACAF Cup) and then win the MLS Cup. There’s been a lot of great teams in the league and is one of them. This is a good damn good year.”
And fueling speculation about what will become of his future, the 36-year-old midfielder and international superstar Beckham, whose five-year, multi-million dollar contract expires shortly, said he will decide soon what he will do next.
“I need to sit back, relax and enjoy this moment and see what I’m going to do,” he said. “I’m talking in past tense a bit, but it doesn’t mean I’m not coming back. I need to sit down and talk about it and see what’s best for me.”
Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said the Dynamo could have done a better job trying to get the ball into the Galaxy goal.
“We didn’t play as well as we wanted to,” Kinnear said. “We had a chance to win the game. I think we played better in the second half then in the first, but you need to score a goal.”
IN PRO HOCKEY, the Ontario Reign defeated the Stockton Thunder, 3-1, at Citizens Business Bank Arena Saturday.
Derek Couture fronted the Reign a 1-0 lead at 6:26 of the first period. C.J. Stretch feathered a pass to Couture as he straddled the goal line and the winger found a sliver of daylight between Olivier Roy and the post to record his third goal in four games and seventh of the season.
A fluke goal knotted the game at 1-1 in the second period, as a rebound bounced off of Reign defenseman Vincent LoVerde and into the Ontario net. Matt Foy was credited with the goal for Stockton.
Jesse Fratkin gave the Thunder a 3-1 lead in the third with the first two goals in his professional career. The first came as he forced a shot through a scrum which limited Darcy Kuemper’s range.
The recent Brown University graduate scored his second goal just eight seconds after exiting the penalty box and carried a long pass from Tony DeHart unimpeded to the Ontario net.
Olivier Roy stopped 31 of 32 shots for his second win in as many nights, while Kuemper suffered his first loss of the season with 20 saves on 23 shots.
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist for the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
The San Bernardino Valley College football team almost pulled off a huge upset over conference champion visiting East Los Angeles College, but in the end fell, 48-44, Saturday night.
SBVC (4-6 overall, 2-3 conference) played a solid first half, then came out in the third quarter and allowed 20 unanswered points.
But just when you thought the Wolverines were out of it, they roared back, scoring 23 straight against Huskies (7-3, 5-0), giving them a scare, but it was too little, too late.
Sophomore running back not just rushed for 138 yards on 20 carries, averaging 6.9 yards per carry, but he also threw a 46 yards touchdown pass.
Sophomore wide receiver David Garnica also had a very good game, catching eight passes for 138 yards and a score, his longest reception was 46 yards from Solomon for his lone touchdown on the night.
Sophomore linebacker Marcus Pesquera led the both teams with 14 total tackles, three solo and assisting on 11 on the night, breaking the SBVC single season tackling record by 10, with 124.
A WEEK EARLIER, Fontana A.B. Miller grad and freshman wide receiver Stacy Howard set an SBVC record with five touchdown catches as the Wolverines defeated host Victor Valley College, 59-41.
Howard was extremely pleased was his performance.
“I’ve just been on a roll and it just caught up with me,” Howard said. “It was crazy. I’m very excited. While it was happening I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on. When I heard about it, I was very excited.”
ANOTHER FONTANA-BASED FOOTBALL PLAYER having a spectacular year is Kaiser grad and University of Washington defensive end Josh Shirley. Shirley was at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Saturday as the Huskies lost to USC, 40-19.
Here’s how Shirley’s doing this season: In 10 games he has 16 tackles (12 solo), three sacks, one pass broken up and one forced fumble.
IN PRO HOCKEY, the Ontario Reign lost, 7-4, to the Alaska Aces before Sunday night in Anchorage, Alaska.
Alaska jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes of play on goals by Dan Kissel, Russ Sinkewich, Ethan Cox and Chris Bruton.
Goaltender Jean-Francois Berube, who earned his first professional shutout Saturday night, gave way to Dusty Carlson to start the second period.
Wes Goldie put Alaska up 5-0 at 4:03 before Francois Brisebois got Ontario on the board at 4:42. Brady Calla skated down the left side and fed Brisebois who one-timed the puck past Gerald Coleman for his fifth goal of the season.
Tristan King earned his third point in as many games as he redirected Philippe Seydoux’s slap shot just inside the right post to cut the Aces lead to 5-2.
Coach Jason Christie took advantage of two Alaska penalties late in the third to cut the Aces lead to 5-4, as he pulled Carlson for 6-on-4 advantages. Derek Couture and Geoff Irwin each registered goals, but the Aces answered with goals by Kissel and Cox.
Carlson registered the loss with 15 saves on 17 shots, while Gerald Coleman got the win with 23 saves on 27 shots.
IN PRO SOCCER, with the MLS Cup coming Sunday featuring the Los Angeles Galaxy against the Houston Dynamo, Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has been selected as the league’s Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three years.
Arena becomes the first-ever three-time winner of the award, having previously claimed it in 1997 with D.C. United and in 2009 during his first full season with the Galaxy.
Now in his third full season with the Galaxy after being named the club’s general manager and head coach in August 2008, Arena has led his team back to MLS Cup for the second time in three years while repeating as Supporters’ Shield winners with a 19-5-10 record for 67 points, which were the second most in league history.
In addition to winning the Supporters’ Shield, the Galaxy also became the third team in
MLS history to go undefeated at home during the regular season, tallying a 12-0-5 record in 17 home regular season games at The Home Depot Center and an 18-0-5 record at home in all competitions.
Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist for the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
GLENDALE, Ariz. – It was a real treat in the world of professional – and Fontana – sports Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium as Kaiser High graduates – and, of course, brothers – David and Chris Carter matched up in an NFL game on different sides of the ball.
David Carter was on the defensive line for the host Arizona Cardinals, while younger brother by one year Chris Carter was playing linebacker and appearing on special teams for the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
David Carter saw plenty of action in the late third quarter and throughout the fourth quarter, while Chris Carter made two big tackles on special teams as Pittsburgh – and the team’s towel-waving fans – beat Arizona, 32-20, to improve to 5-2 on the season, while Arizona fell to 1-5.
After the game, Chris Carter talked about the brothers’ unique relationship.
“We talk about it a little bit,” Chris Carter said about the two being in their rookie years in the NFL and being on different teams thousands of miles apart. “At the end of the day it’s about our teams. He focuses on the success of his and I focus on the success of mine. But we do talk about different experiences and how different it is to be on different teams.”
But remember, they are brothers who grew up together.
“I’m on the other side of the country, so most of the time we just talk about the old times,” Chris Carter said.
He added he wouldn’t be where he is today – and neither would his brother – without the tutelage of former Kaiser head coach Dick Bruich.
“He got me prepared for the types of coaches out there.” Chris Carter said of Bruich. “He really built me up and showed me the fundamentals of the game.”
FOR THE RECORD, both Carter brothers were selected in the 2011 NFL draft and were separated by just 22 draft slots. Chris Carter was drafted in the fifth round (162nd overall) and David was taken in the sixth round (184th overall).
This was not the first time since high school the two have played against each other. They played head-to-head on Sept. 27, 2008 when Fresno State University and Chris Carter visited the Rose Bowl to take on UCLA and David Carter.
And for the record, Fresno State shocked the Bruins that day, winning in the heat (as I remember very well), 36-31.
IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL, the San Bernardino Valley College football team pounded perennial Mountain Conference doormat the Compton College, 40-13.
SBVC (2-5 overall, 1-1 in conference) built a 20-0 lead before the Tartars (0-7, 0-2) snuck in for the score right before halftime.
Freshman quarterback Daniel Farley went 19 for 31, tossing three touchdowns and running for one, with a long of 45, in the victory over Compton.
Sophomore defensive back Kingdwayne Soloman was all over the field, rushing for 55 yards on 11 carries and a score, catching a pass out of the backfield for 29 yards, and returning two kicks for 39 yards, totaling 123 all-purpose yards.
Sophomore linebacker Marcus Pesquera led both teams with four solo tackles, assisting on eight, totaling 12 tackles on the night, including a tackle for loss of three yards.
Freshman running back Damar Sowell was the leading rusher for SBVC, carrying the ball 15 times for 96 yards with a long of 26.
The game started positively for SBVC, as the Wolverines scored on their second drive via a Farley 31-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Stacy Howard, a graduate of Fontana A.B. Miller at 9:19 in the first quarter.
IN COLLEGE CROSS COUNTRY, the SBVC men’s cross country team won its 16th consecutive Foothill Conference championship and 21st overall with 15 points, destroying its nearest opponent, Antelope Valley College, by 47 points in the Foothill Conference Championships hosted by Rio Hondo College at Legg Lake Park at Whittier Narrows Regional Park..
In addition, eight of the top nine finishers were SBVC runners.
The SBVC women’s cross country finished in third place at the championship with 82 points, which was 14 points ahead of their nearest competition, host Rio Hondo, and 62 points behind conference champion, Antelope Valley.
The Foothill Conference will host the SoCal Championships at Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Nov. 4.
IN MINOR LEAGUE HOCKEY, the Ontario Reign announced they signed defenseman Vincent LoVerde and claimed Eddie DelGrosso off waivers from the Las Vegas Wranglers.
LoVerde, 22, wrapped up his college career in 2010-11, recording nine points (2g, 7a) and 55 penalty minutes for Miami University of Ohio (CCHA).
He led the team in blocked shots for the fourth straight season with 72 and had a +20 rating. LoVerde totaled 36 points (6g, 30a), 136 penalty minutes, and a +67 rating in 159 contests in four seasons.
The Chicago native played two junior seasons with the Waterloo Black Hawks from 2005 to 2007. He had 32 points (9g, 23a) and 174 penalty minutes.
DelGrosso joins the Reign after appearing in two games this season. The 26-year-old defenseman had 11 points (3g, 8a) and 14 penalty minutes in 29 games for the Wranglers in 2010-11. He also played eight games in Finland’s top tier league, SM-liiga, last season.
From 2006 to 2010, DelGrosso guarded the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s blue line, registering 109 points (24g, 85a) and 153 penalty minutes in 158 games.
He was named Second Team All-Star in 2008-09 and First Team All-Star in 2009-10.
The Las Vegas native appeared in eight AHL contests with the Springfield Falcons after his collegiate career in 2010. He also played three seasons of junior hockey from 2003 to 2006 with the St. Louis Heartland Eagles and Indian Ice, both of the USHL.
The blueliner scored the most goals among USHL defenseman in 2004-05 (15) and 2005-06 (19).
Shel Segal is president of Monterey Park, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist for the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.
