SUNSET REGION: Longhorns score early, capture first region title

Legacy wasted little time taking control of Saturday’s Sunset Region boys soccer final against Bishop Gorman.

And the Longhorns never relinquished it.

Legacy’s Saul Aguirre scored in the game’s fourth minute, and the Longhorns went on to beat Gorman 3-0 at Bettye Wilson Park for the school’s first region title in any sport.

“To get the first goal, it gives you an edge and it just kind of relaxes your players,” Legacy coach Jose Gomez said. “We just kept going at it. The kids didn’t give up. That’s the thing I love about my team. They’re just hard-working kids.”

The Longhorns (18-1-1) advance to the state semifinals Friday at Bettye Wilson. Gorman (17-1-1), which had won the previous five Sunset titles, will play Sunrise runner-up Del Sol at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Bettye Wilson, with the winner earning the final state berth.

Legacy’s Miguel Herrera passed the ball ahead to Aguirre, who ran onto it in the box and knocked it past Gorman goalkeeper Thomas Olsen, who had left his line to challenge the play.

“Once we scored that goal, we had a big relief,” Legacy goalkeeper Ramon Carvajal said. “But we knew we had to keep coming out strong. We couldn’t let our guard down or anything.”

The Longhorns came out quickly in the second half, with Herrera beating Olsen to a pass from Luis Chaidez and tapping it into the open goal just three minutes in.

Chaidez scored on an assist from Aguirre with 11 minutes to play for the final margin.

“This is the best thing ever,” Chaidez said. “This is what we wanted from the beginning. This is what we worked for. Now we’ve got to win state.”

Legacy defenders Ricky Acero, Julio Uribe, Skyler Ibarra and David Sanchez made life easier for Carvajal, consistently challenging Gorman’s offensive players and giving few uncontested shots.

“My defense was solid today,” Carvajal said. “Just like every other game, they always are solid. But today we just played with heart and everything we had. We really didn’t give them opportunities to get shots.”

When the Gaels did get off a clean shot, Carvajal was there to turn it away.

“You ask your players to make big plays when they need to, and today was a good day for him,” Gomez said of his junior goalie.

Not only was the region title the school’s first, but the program now has come full circle since going 0-19 when the school opened in 2006.

“For kids that have been around the program, they know where this program has been,” Gomez said. “To win a division and a Sunset Region in the same season and still be in it, that’s huge.”