Sage dumps bag of tricks

NEWPORT COAST — With one powerful strike, NuView Bridge High’s Jose Cardoza did what no other opposing player had been able to do all year against Sage Hill School.

He scored a goal.

But even great teams allow goals. They also come back strong from them, and that’s what the Lightning did, scoring six times in the second half to top NuView, 8-1, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs Saturday at Sage Hill.

The second-seeded Lightning remained unbeaten at 15-0-2, but saw its streak of 12 straight shutouts end. They’ll be looking to start another streak and add another to their 14 overall shutouts when they play against Ontario Christian Wednesday in the second round. Ontario Christian defeated Avalon, 3-1, Saturday.

The second-round game’s site will be determined by coin flip.

Cardoza, NuView’s forward, cut the Lightning’s lead to 2-1 in the 27th minute on his strike that glanced off goalie Beau Caillouette’s hand.

“[Cardoza] was very dangerous,” said Sage Coach Noureddine El Alam. “I said they’re going to have to shake it off and move on. I think they did very well. We were prepared for it. If they dwell on it, we would have probably gotten scored on again.”

Caillouette switched from goalie to forward in the second half and got the Knights, of Nuevo, back. The junior scored three times in the half, finishing off the hat trick in the 65th minute on his goal from the left side.

Senior Tyler Ellis also had a hat trick in the game, including a goal in the very first minute. After two close shots from freshman Chris Burke were blocked, the ball rebounded to Ellis, who found the upper-right corner to give the Lightning the early advantage.

The Lightning also had a first-half goal from Conrad Whitaker, and took a tenuous 2-1 lead into the intermission.

“Their goal kind of picked us up,” Ellis said. “We were expecting a goal, it’s inevitable, so you’ve got to move on. At the start of the second half, we had to just play like we always do.”

Sage Hill delivered on that, scoring three times in the first 12 minutes of the second half to put the game out of reach for NuView (12-6-3).

The last goal of the sequence came when Braden Ross’ header went off the post and right to Caillouette, who stuck it in with a header of his own.

“We’ve been prepping mentally for this game for a long time,” Caillouette said. “We’ve been focusing on coming out hard and staying consistent throughout the game.”

After Caillouette finished off his hat trick in the 65th minute, scoring from the left, Whitaker added his second goal in the 72nd minute.

Then, Caillouette assisted Ellis’ goal, also close in from the left side, in the 79th minute.

NuView goalie Stephenson Bulger made 17 saves, but El Alam said he noticed something in Bulger’s game.

“He would stay right in front of the bar,” El Alam said. “We told the kids not to shoot from far, but to attack space, because he doesn’t come out. We were unlucky with shots in the first half, but there was no need for those shots because the keeper doesn’t come out.”

Ross, on a broken foot, played the whole first half and much of the second, tallying three assists. Alex Edelstein, Max Ellison, Nick Singarella and Jonathan Gordon anchored the Lightning defense, and Michael Bear made several nice crosses.

Ellis said the senior class wants to take the magical year as far as it can go.

“It’s a fun journey,” he said. “As a senior, every practice is pretty much our last. This is why we play soccer, to go as far as we can, and this is the year to do it. We’ve got to capitalize on that.”