High school boys soccer: East starts slow but finishes strong in big win over Brighton

Schedules are something teams don’t always control, and sometimes they mess with chemistry and finding a groove, especially when a team is young.

Despite a funky schedule to start the season, East remained undefeated Friday afternoon after topping region foe Brighton 5-2.

“I think we had a really strange start to the season,” said East coach Javier Viana. “We had six games the first 10 days, then a game got canceled and we’ve only had two games in the past two weeks.

“We had good rhythm going, but then it was only one game per week so it’s kind of a tricky thing.”

The week between games might have been to blame for a slow start by East Friday as Brighton lit up the scoreboard first when Fischer Neal knocked in a deep throw from Jackson Loveland in the 14th minute.

The Bengal goal woke up the Leopards, who responded within the next two minutes to knot the game at 1-1 on Teo Hummasti’s header off a beautifully placed free kick by Charlie Spencer.

“We started off pretty slow, but once we found our rhythm and started moving the ball around, I think the game just changed,” said East’s Jorge Beltran.

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Beltran was a big reason for the change, as the senior proved why he’s one of the best scorers in the state. He and Manny Enriquez raced side by side down the field to beat most of the Bengal defense before Beltran punched in a pass from Enriquez to put East up 2-1.

The pair are fast and tough to catch, but they also are two of only four seniors on the young East team.

“Jorge is a fantastic talent and MVP of a (US Youth Soccer) national championship team,” said Viana. “He’s a household name, and we are incredibly lucky to have him, but people may not know how great of a kid he is, full of humility and exactly the captain and leader, along with the other seniors, that we need right now.”

Beltran looked to have another shot at a goal after drawing a penalty in the box early in the second half, but he didn’t get to take the shot because he was bleeding and had to leave the field.

That left Alejandro Preciado to make good on Beltran’s efforts, and he did, increasing the Leopard lead to 3-1.

Brighton didn’t back down and kept making plays before Loveland added to his point total with a goal off Adem Odobasic’s assist. That cut the lead to 3-2 and the fans were full of oohs and aahs over the next few runs as East shot just wide of the goal and the Bengals knocked one off the post.

Things turned quickly after the back and forth, however. East’s attack turned to Beltran, who added two scores in under two minutes to extend the lead to 5-2.

“We’ve been keeping clean sheets but at the end of the day, Brighton is a fantastic program that is well-coached,” said Viana. “Goals are going to happen, and after we conceded the first goal, you saw the whole team pick the ball up and the body language was correct. Then we went to work.”

For Viana, the response by his young team is something he’s been pleased with this season. East is in a tough region, and that fight and push is something it will need to keep atop the pack.

The Leopards will have to find their groove after sitting again through spring break before returning April 8 against West.