Preps: Lucas Ladek
ECR’s quest stopped short
El Camino Real High School's bid to honor fallen goalkeeper Francisco “Pancho” Rodriguez fell two games shy of the mark. The second-seeded Conquistadores were upset Thursday by Narbonne in the CIF Los Angeles City Section boys soccer playoffs.
Alfonso Moreno's 71st-minute goal lifted Gardena's Narbonne (16-6-4), which will play at third-seeded San Fernando (20-2-3) in Tuesday's semifinals, a rematch of the 2010 title game won by the team from the San Fernando Valley. The seventh-seeded Gauchos, who beat ECR in last year's playoffs, have won nine successive games.
El Camino Real (20-5-4), from Woodland Hills, has been on a mission since Rodriguez, the starting goalkeeper, was shot to death Jan. 11 outside his home after a West Valley League victory over Taft of Woodland Hills. The Conquistadores rallied to tie the score on Lucas Ladek's goal before halftime, and Moreno finished from Byron Rivera's pass to lift the South Bay school.
ECR walked off the field in disappointment. “We really wanted that ring,” senior midfielder Danny Cruz told the Los Angeles Daily News. “We wanted to get it for Pancho.”
San Fernando extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games, beating Jefferson on penalties after a scoreless draw. The other semifinal will pit top-seeded Bell, a 1-0 winner over Palisades, against Fremont, which routed Belmont, 3-0.
SEEING RED: Foshay Learning Center on Thursday upset Annenberg, eliminating the top-seeded team in Small Schools division to advance to next week's semifinals.
The result was reversed, and Annenberg reinistated, on Friday morning. The reason: a red card.
Foshay head coach Bartolomo Perez was ejected during the quarterfinal match, and that's a real no-no in the City Section.
ECR soccer shuts out Chatsworth
WOODLAND HILLS – The smiles are coming a little easier for the players on the El Camino Real boys soccer team. The celebrations are a little more joyous. The wins are not as important and the time together on the field is all the more precious.
The memory of Francisco Rodriguez Jr., the El Camino Real goalie who was shot and killed in front of his house after a game against Taft on Jan. 11, still weighs heavy on the players.
Before El Camino Real’s game against Chatsworth on Monday night, the first home game since Rodriguez was killed, there was a 26-second moment of silence. Rodriguez wore No. 26 when he was on the El Camino Real soccer team.
The goal was empty before the start of the game, the same tribute paid to Rodriguez in the first game El Camino Real played at Cleveland of Reseda after his death.
After the kickoff, goaltender Randdi Misrahi ran onto the field and took his position. Once the game was under way, El Camino Real put on an offensive display scoring three goals in the second half in a 5-0 shutout over Chatsworth.
Lucas Ladek scored the first goal for El Camino Real (11-4-4) in the fifth minute. Erickson Penate put El Camino Real up 2-0 with a goal in the 17th minute.
The Conquistadors went into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Misrahi was barely tested in goal in the first half by Chatsworth. Once the second half started, El Camino applied more pressure, but didn’t score again until the 62nd minute.
Kayvon Parsa and Latif Al-kassir scored within three minutes of each other and gave El Camino Real a 4-0 lead. Mark Gomez knocked in the final goal for El Camino Real rebounding a shot that went off the goal post in the 73rd minute.
It was the 10th shutout of the season for El Camino Real. Misrahi has recorded two shutouts in the three games since the death of Rodriguez.
The game between El Camino Real and Chatsworth was originally scheduled for Friday, but was rescheduled because of the funeral for Rodriguez.
El Camino Real is 2-0-2 in its past four games and hasn’t lost since Jan. 5, 1-0, to Mililani in the Hawaii Invitational.
Chatsworth (0-5-3) lost its fourth game in a row.
L.A. North: Five things from the weekend
- The El Camino Real boys soccer team played on Friday night two days after goalie Francisco Rodriguez Jr. was shot and killed outside his home in Winnetka. El Camino Real shut out Reseda Cleveland, 2-0, in an emotional game that not only was played in tribute to Rodriguez, but in celebration of his love of soccer.
“We talked about the emotional roller coaster we were going to be on,” El Camino Real coach David Hussey said after the game. “We talked about that we are all going to be crying at times. We are all going to be laughing at times. I think they were prepared for it.”
El Camino took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Lucas Ladek in the first half. The Conquistadores were going to be tough to beat on Friday night. The players maintained an energy level throughout the game that any team would be challenged to match.
“Lukas is the Energizer Bunny for our team,” Hussey said. “I think today everybody had just a little more energy. There wasn’t really a dropoff for some of the guys. If our team can match Lukas’ intensity and energy, then I don’t think we would lose many games. He just flies all over the field. He has no regard for his body. At times we’re just cringing back there. He’s feisty.”
The El Camino Real soccer team will be back on the field on Wednesday at Birmingham in Lake Balboa. - The East All Stars won the 16th annual Daily News All-Star Game at College of the Canyons, 31-7, over the West. Highland quarterback Christian Tago was the MVP of the game. The San Jose State commit passed for 94 yards and two touchdowns in addition to rushing for 31 yards. Arleta’s De’Jon Coleman was the East team MVP. He rushed for 64 yards on eight carries and scored a touchdown. Crespi receiver Chris Harper was the West team MVP. He caught nine passes for 115 yards.
- Alemany freshman Nia Britt won the shot put at a track and field meet at Oaks Christian and qualified for the California state indoor invitational next week in Fresno. Her throw of 42 feet, 10 inches with an 8.8-pound shot put earned her a spot in the state meet at the Save Mart Center. All three of her throws at the meet at Oaks Christian were beyond 41 feet. She set the AAU national record with a 6-pound shot put at 51 feet, 6 ¼ inches in August. After the meet at Oaks Christian, Britt scored two points for the Alemany girls baksetball team in a 57-49 win over Etiwanda at St. Bernard High.
- The Oaks Christian boys basketball team beat Village Christian, 73-61, and snapped the Crusaders’ 16-game winning streak on Saturday. Chass Bryant scored 29 points and dished out six assists for Oaks Christian. The last time Village Christian before Saturday night was on Nov. 30, 60-44, to Renaissance Academy in the Burbank Tournament. One of Village Christian’s super sophomore transfers, Bryan Alberts, did not play against Oaks Christian because he had food poisoning. Marsalis Johnson, the other sophomore transfer, had a big game for Village Christian with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
- The Saugus girls soccer team has an impressive streak of its own. The Saugus girls have lost a Foothill League match in nearly two seasons. The Centurions beat Hart, 2-1, on Friday and have won 16 league games in a row. The last time Saugus lost a Foothill League game was a Feb. 2,2010, against Hart. Angie Weiner, who was the kicker on the Saugus football team, scored the game-winner in the 43rd minute. Monica Allen had two assists, including a header to Weiner that produced the second goal for Saugus.
Emotional ECR soccer returns to field
RESEDA -- Two days after El Camino Real’s goalkeeper Francisco Rodriguez Jr. was shot and killed in front of his house in Winnetka, the boys' soccer team was on the field against Reseda Cleveland.
Randdi Misrahi started in goal for El Camino Real, but he didn’t take the field until after kickoff. The El Camino Real goal was empty at the start of the game, one of the many tributes the team made in memory of their slain teammate.
“We talked to Randdi. He said he was OK coming on to the field,” said El Camino Real coach David Hussey. “We wanted to show that we were thinking about him. For a few seconds we didn’t have a goalie and then we subbed him in. Cleveland was great to us. A great host, they were very compassionate.”
Los Angeles Police Dept. detectives are investigating the death of Rodriguez, the 17-year-old senior goalkeeper. He was shot and killed outside his home in Winnetka on Wednesday night, less than an hour after his team tied Woodland Hills Taft 0-0 in a soccer game at El Camino Real High School.
According to police, neighbors and family members say they heard three gunshots outside the house on Cozycroft Avenue on Wednesday night around 6 p.m. When police arrived at the house, they found Rodriguez lying in the front yard. He was taken to Northridge Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
According to various media reports, a red-haired girl came to the house and asked Rodriguez to come outside. Police are searching for the girl and a green Ford SUV, either an Explorer or Expedition, they believe was the car the girl fled in.
Hussey said he talked to his players about postponing or canceling the game against Cleveland in the wake of their teammate's death, but they decided to play.
“Francisco was always willing to play, whenever,” Hussey said. “The first game is going to be the hardest.”
Before the game, the players put a No. 26 jersey, the number Rodriguez wore when he played goalkeeper, on the field in front of their bench.

