Third-ranked Juan Diego remains far from a finished product.
But the Soaring Eagle showed signs Saturday afternoon that they're starting to put things together, which could be a scary proposition for the rest of Class 3A.
Following a sluggish start, Juan Diego sprung to life in the second half of its nonregion tilt with rival Judge. The Soaring Eagle put much more pressure on Judge after halftime, and the result was a 1-0 Juan Diego win in the first-ever boys soccer meeting between the Catholic schools.
"Once we started playing to each other's feet, breaking the defense down, we got a lot more opportunities," said coach Scott Platz. "And luckily we finished one."
For the first time, Juan Diego returned to the 3-5-2 formation that made it such a formidable offense a season ago.
The Soaring Eagle played OK in the opening half, but it finally started to string together passes after the break. That led to several good chances for Kyle Beck and Kevin Flynn, and Beck converted one in the 60th minute.
Central midfielder Ryan Beck played a sweet through ball to Kyle Beck on the left. Kyle Beck patiently waited for Judge standout 'keeper Aaron Rokeach to make his move, and Beck then simply slid the ball past him.
"It's flowing more," Ryan Beck said of the attack. "It's not so crowded up top, and in the middle, we have just enough."
In Juan Diego's frustrating loss to Logan a week earlier, the Soaring Eagle played a 4-3-3, leaving Ryan Beck often outnumbered. Against Judge, however, the numbers were usually in his favor.
"It was just a much better situation," he said.
Another thing that helped Juan Diego on Saturday was the return of star sweeper Dallas Holbeck.
Holbeck, who signed with Westminster, has been rehabbing from a foot injury. He played for the first time against Judge, and he made an immediate impact.
With him anchoring the defense, it allowed Juan Diego to move Anthony Rainaldi to right back. More importantly, Holbeck's presence allowed the Soaring Eagle's talented attackers to get forward without worrying about covering the backline.
"His contribution's invaluable," said Platz, "so it's nice to have him back. And he's still a little rusty, but he'll get there."
In other prep soccer games Saturday:
CHRISTIAN HERITAGE 1, BEN LOMOND 0:Kevin Kim converted an Aaron Soelberg corner kick in the 20th minute as the Crusaders knocked off a 3A squad. Sweeper Paul Metzger marshalled Christian Heritage's defense, and Steffen Voet got the shutout.
E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com