Birmingham Strikes Early in Playoff Win

To be the best you have to beat the best, so Palisades High boys soccer coach Dave Suarez challenged his team to rise to the level of  the  competition last Thursday in its City Section Division I playoff opener against defending champion Birmingham.

The ninth-seeded Dolphins did just that but ultimately fell short in a 2-0 loss at Sepulveda Basin Sports Complex in Lake Balboa. It was Palisades’ first opening-round exit since a 6-0 loss to Bell in 2009 in Suarez’s first season at the helm and afterwards he shouldered the blame.

“They countered quickly, they had speed and they were first to the ball a lot,” Suarez said. “They do have weaknesses that can be exposed but I didn’t prepare the guys well enough.”

The Patriots’ speed showed in the third minute when reigning City Player of the Year Eric Villatoro sprinted down the left side and was fouled just inside the penalty area. Villatoro converted the ensuing penalty kick for his 17th goal of the season, giving the home side a lead it would never relinquish.

“I could tell we were really nervous the first minute but that goal settled us down,” Birmingham Coach E.B. Madha said. “We’re starting to find ourselves. We expected Palisades to play the same style as El Camino Real. I don’t sub a lot but I had to today because some guys were tired at the end.”

The Patriots (14-7-3) doubled the margin midway through the second half when Villatoro sent a cross into the box and freshman Aldo Perez scored on a bicycle kick. Palisades almost got one back a minute later when David Grinsfelder banged a shot off the crossbar and fellow senior captain Kavi Kashani sailed a 30-yard free kick over the cage with under two minutes left.

“They were very fast and put pressure on our defense but the difference is that they capitalized on their chances and we didn’t,” Kashani said. “We had a couple good chances on corner kicks in the first half and if we’d scored on one of those it would’ve been a different game, but I love these guys to death. This is the closest team I’ve been on.”

Suarez thought Palisades (10-2-2) deserved a higher seeding in the 16-team bracket after finishing undefeated in the Western League.

“These were two quality teams,” he said. “They should’ve been seeded five and we should’ve been six or seven. We’ve got pieces coming back. As a coach, you don’t want to rebuild, you want to re-tool.”