RIVERSIDE >> Committed to his players first and his tactics second, Arlington boys soccer coach Kevin Watson found no fault following the season’s final whistle.
Despite a late rally, Arlington’s stellar, possession-first defense allowed goals on both sides of halftime in a 2-1 loss to San Diego Westview in a CIF State SoCal Regional Division II semifinal on Thursday night.
“That’s our style and we have to live with it,” Watson said. “We watched film (of Westview) and we knew exactly what we were coming up against. I felt like we played well and we were breaking their lines but we just couldn’t find that moment.”
The loss ends a historic season for Arlington (26-3-0), which recently captured the CIF Southern Section Division 2 title for the first time.
“We just made two bad mistakes in our build-up play tonight, and we usually don’t do that,” Watson said. “It’s unfortunate because I think we played well enough to win today but two mistakes led to goals.”
Trailing 2-0 heading into the final 10 minutes, Arlington was awarded a penalty kick in the 75th minute that Gustavo Aguilar converted to apply pressure.
Westview’s defense was up to the task as goalkeeper Patrick McClellan made a crucial stop on and stood tall as Arlington sent the attack his way in the closing moments.
Izel Smith had the opening goal in the 39th minute for Westview (15-8-5) and Matthew Besgen scored on a header from a set piece in the 55th minute to help the Wolverines take a two-goal lead in the second half.
“(Izel) is one of the fastest players in the state, and if you give him half-a-chance he’s going to score,” Westview coach Martin Coughlin said. “I feel like Arlington may have underestimated that a little bit.”
McClellan made four saves for Westview, staring down Riverside County’s best team behind the first defense to tower over Arlington this season.
“I think we looked nervous for a while, and you could tell that in the first half we just weren’t clicking,” Coughlin said. “In the second half we picked it up, and that’s when we got the second goal, and I knew that was going to make it tough on them to come back.”
A crucial error in the back led to the game’s first goal as Smith stepped into an errant pass from Arlington goalkeeper Rafael Martinez and scored to give Westview the lead just before halftime.
Westview played to its strengths in the second half, earning a free kick that Besgen nodded back across the face of the goal and out of the reach of Martinez for a 2-0 lead.
Arlington was unable to find the final one or two touches in the attacking third to make Westview pay for the gaps in its defense, but was given late life when the referee signaled for a penalty with less than 6 minutes remaining.
Aguilar, who netted the winner on a penalty in Arlington’s 1-0 victory over Long Beach Cabrillo in the Division 2 final on Saturday, scored going the same way to help the Lions pull one back.
“The grind, win-or-die format is very difficult,” Watson said. “To reach the pinnacle and win a CIF section title is one thing, but to turn around and do it again at regionals is another beast.”
Arlington sent numbers forward in the closing moments but the Lions’ season came to end as Westview cleared all final offensive forays.
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