Alfredo Ibarra must’ve felt like a kid who dropped his ice cream cone and had to sit and watch everyone else eat theirs.
All of his pals on the front line for Santa Barbara’s boys soccer team were scoring in bunches, while he kept sending the ball off the post or right at the Littlerock keeper.
After about seven near-misses, the sophomore finally got his dessert in the 74th minute, scoring the eighth goal for the Dons in a 9-0 drubbing of the Lobos in the first round of the CIF playoffs.
Alfredo Ibarra follows through on a point-blank shot in the first half. It was blocked by Littlerock's keeper.
“I was kind of nervous, because it was my first CIF game,” said Ibarra. “After the fifth shot I even told coach to take me out because I just couldn’t score today. It wasn’t my day.”
When he finally converted, he ran to the middle of the pitch and faced the home crowd, ready to stage a celebration by imitating Michael Jackson’s dance moves in the famous “Thriller” music video.
“Then I though about it, and it was kind of messed up to the other team and I would’ve felt bad,” he said. Coach Todd Heil was also standing right in front of him, and it would have resulted in a yellow card.
The top-seeded Dons had a 4-0 lead by the 18th minute, and ended up out-shooting Little Rock 20-3. They entered the game having scored 91 goals while allowing just 10 on the year. With the nine, they now sit at the century-mark heading into the second round, which will be played against either Chino Hills or Loara, with the location to be determined.
Christian Pardo assisted Fernando Alvarado to open the scoring just five minutes in. Jesse Gonzalez then scored off of a dish from Alvarado in the 12th, and Christian Pardo scored less than 30 seconds later. Gonzalez added another in the 18th.
It was certainly a frustrating day for Littlerock goalie Cristobal Hernandez, but to his credit the senior made seven saves on the day. Most of them, of course, came off of shots by Ibarra.
Justin Jimenez scored on a penalty kick in the 47th and a free kick in the 68th. He then assisted Alberto Hernandez in the 72nd before Ibarra scored his in the 74th.
Hernandez had the goal of the day to close things out in the 76th, taking a cross from Ibarra out of the air and blasting it into the back of the net from 20 yards out.
Santa Barbara (26-0-1) had to make a comeback to win its first-round match last season. This time, it was a little different.
“We were younger last year, and a little apprehensive… This year, we’re older and more experienced, and they’re excited,” said Heil. “It’s a tough component to beat when you have an excited group of boys that can actually play.”
