JSerra Loses to St. John Bosco in Trinity League Title Showdown

The sight of the St. John Bosco boys soccer team dancing at midfield of JSerra's stadium after a 3-2 victory Thursday evening was a bitter pill to swallow for the host Lions, the defending Trinity League champions who conceded their title to the Braves following the loss.

Derek Vogel took advantage of two glaring defensive miscues on the part of JSerra, scoring a go-ahead goal in each half, and Henry Rios added a third score for St. John Bosco, which finished its title run at 8-1-1.

Meanwhile, the Lions, who started the day hoping to claim a share of the league crown, slipped to 6-3-1 in league play and fell behind Servite in the standings to finish the regular season in third place.

Nevertheless, JSerra, ranked No. 10 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 coaches' poll, is considered a favorite to make a deep postseason run, and for good reason. The Lions celebrated the careers of 12 senior players Thursday, including talented striker Dylan Seedman, who tied the score at one in the 26th minute of the first half.

After a steal in the defensive zone by Chris Canales, the fullback sent a through up the right wing that junior forward Jack Presson corralled and worked with all the way to the box before firing a roller that slipped through the fingers of Brian Hurtado and rolled toward the far post.

Seedman swooped in to tap the shot into the net and instantly change the momentum of the contest, which, for the next 25 minutes, favored the Lions. St. John Bosco outshot JSerra 14-9 overall, but from the Seedman score to Vogel's answer in the 13th minute of the second half, the Lions produced a 6-2 shots-on-goal advantage.

"I thought my team played hard. It was a great game," JSerra coach Davor Fabulich said. "We had a couple of mistakes and that was really the difference."

Vogel's first score was a bizarre roller that slipped through Kyle Pierce's wickets, and the second was a golden opportunity one-timer that Pierce had no chance of stopping because Vogel was left alone, streaking through the box.

"My team played awesome," Vogel said. "I'm so happy to be a part of this. First [championship] ever. It's just a wonderful feeling."

Rios' goal in the 34th minute made it 3-1, Braves, but because St. John Bosco had spent so much time on the turf nursing injuries, the clock still had double digits to tick off, and JSerra had one last charge to ignite.

Making good on the furious last-ditch effort, Canales scored in the 36th minute on a free-kick, far-post bender from 45 yards out that curled into the top shelf.

Pierce vacated his posts during injury time to add one more body on the offensive end, but the Lions' comeback fell short.

Despite Vogel's first goal, Pierce turned in an impressive day, stopping 10 shots and breaking up five crosses, while Hurtado tallied three saves for the Braves.

When asked if the loss could be used as a motivation for the Lions (13-5-3) heading into the postseason, Fabulich said it was possible.

"We've been playing well lately," he said. "The second half of the season, obviously, we were without our best player [Juan Gutierrez, injury], but we learned how to play together without him. The kids have been playing great, and I thought we played really well today.

"Hat's off to Bosco, they are a great team. They were very consistent the whole year and they deserve to be the winners."

The Division 1 playoff seedings will be announced Monday.