March 2, 2017 Page 5 Lawndale Soccer Suffers Heartbreak in Playoffs By Adam Serrao Advancing deep into the playoffs during the first year of a team’s success is something that is truly hard to do. Postseason victories take a certain amount of experience, maturity and skill that can only be built over time. The Lawndale boys’ soccer team began building all of those attributes this season. A year that began on the wrong foot quickly turned successful once the young players on head coach Angel Mendez’s team gelled and molded together. At last, the Cardinals’ 2016-’17 season has come to an end after a loss to the Cathedral City Lions, but a tough and gritty Lawndale team certainly didn’t go down without a fight. If any soccer team were to begin their regular season with a 4-11-3 record after 18 games, it would be easy to write that team off for the year and hope for better luck next season. That team, however, was Lawndale this year, and the Cardinals didn’t mail the season in after a rocky start by any means. Once Ocean League play began, something clicked in the hearts and minds of the young Cardinals. What was a losing season suddenly became one of overcoming previous failure. A four-game winning streak against divisional opponents, aided by a three-game winning streak to close out the regular season, suddenly vaulted Lawndale from the depths of the Ocean League standings into second place where the Cardinals (12-13-4, 7-2-1) ended the year. A second place finish in league standings can mean only one thing--playoffs. That’s exactly where Mendez’s team wound up, even after a horrific start to the season. In Mendez’s own words, though, “It’s not how you start--it’s where you start and where you end.” Lawndale started off horribly only to eventually find itself in the first round of the 2017 CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs with a matchup against the Garden Grove Argonauts. As the team has done all season long, Lawndale rode the hot foot of sophomore forward Mario Perez. Perez has been nothing short of spectacular this season for the Cardinals, starring on both sides of the ball in only his second year with the team. Last season, on a mostly senior-laden team, Perez didn’t get much of the playing time that he would have liked. This season, the second-year star made the most of his time on the grass. Garden Grove was quickly made a victim of that, watching Perez score one goal and assist for another in the Cardinals’ 3-1 firstround playoff victory. The Argonauts were held scoreless by Lawndale’s defense in the second half as Perez and company struck for two of their three goals to put Garden Grove away and advance in postseason play. Though the Cardinals came out with just as much passion and firepower in the second round of the playoffs, in the end the players simply could not get the ball to bounce their way. In what was an extremely close match that left those in attendance with virtually no fingernails to bite, Lawndale’s second-round match against the Cathedral City Lions finished with a tie of 1-1 at the end of regulation. Senior Osvaldo Garcia was responsible for Lawndale’s lone goal of the match, but not even overtime was enough to declare a winner between the two evenly-matched opponents. With the score still tied at 1-1 at the end of two overtime periods, it took penalty kicks to decide a winner. Cathedral City finally came out on top, making four of their shots-on-goal to Lawndale’s three. While the loss was heartbreaking for the Cardinals, there is still a great deal of optimism that surrounds a team that fould itself during the latter portion of the regular season. Coach Mendez is set to lose both of his goalkeepers in Carlos Barrera and Danny Molina to college. With their departure, scorer Osvaldo Garcia, Carlos and Hugo Perez, Justin Islas and Ruben Salas will also be coming off of the roster, among others. The Cardinals will maintain the services of Mario Perez, though. With Perez, there will be 13 other freshman, sophomores and juniors returning to the team next season. It is truly safe to say that the Lawndale Cardinals boys’ soccer team has nowhere to go but up. Ending a season with a tough loss in the playoffs is certainly never an easy thing to do. The experience and the motivation that the young players on the roster have gained from their time both in Ocean League play and throughout the postseason this year is invaluable. Coach Mendez, star offensive scorer Mario Perez and the rest of the Lawndale Cardinals will be itching to get back on the pitch next season to not only capture an Ocean League title, but also to bring home a CIF championship trophy. • By Doing Nothing, Lakers Do Something By Adam Serrao The NBA trade deadline came and passed last Thursday and instead of making a blockbuster move to send ripples throughout the entire league, the Lakers simply stood pat. Magic Johnson has officially taken control of basketball operations for the Lakers and in doing so has seemingly brought order to a team that was once buried in disarray. Only a smart basketball mind can fix what is currently wrong with the Lakers and in Johnson’s short tenure as man in charge, he is quickly proving that he has what it takes to lead a once-proud franchise back to its former glory. The Lakers weren’t completely quiet at this year’s deadline, but Magic Johnson isn’t necessarily an unintelligent fellow either. Any successful businessman--like Magic has proven himself to be--must know when to hold onto assets and when to send them away. Well, Magic’s first move as boss of the Lakers was to get rid of who was the team’s best player this year, Lou Williams. Getting rid of Williams was a necessary evil for the Lakers. Sure, he scored the most points on the team… but in a year when losing is winning, the Lakers must try to be bad in order to be good. “This trade allows us to continue on the path of building something special, while maintaining future flexibility in the organization,” Johnson explained. Letting go of Williams will hopefully mean that the Lakers lose more games this season-- and in doing so, hold onto their draft pick that they will only receive with some help from the lottery balls. The Lakers’ pick is protected if it falls among the top three of the draft. A record of 19-39 at the All-Star Break couldn’t be any bigger of an indication that the Lakers are on the road to nowhere once again this season. That being said, any loss is a win for L.A. In addition, the departure of Williams will mean more playing time for a young group of players in desperate need of maturity at the NBA level. In the end, the move was a win-win for the Lakers, setting the team up for success in the future and maybe even as early as next year. Perhaps Johnson’s biggest move at the deadline, however, was making no move at all. Rumors swirled that the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers had mutual interest in a trade for superstar guard/forward Paul George. At only the age of 26, George has proven himself to be one of the league’s best players who just so happens to be stuck on a team that consistently struggles in the Eastern Conference. As time has gone on, George has been increasingly clear about the displeasure that playing for the Pacers brings along with it. George’s contract will make him eligible to leave Indiana after the 2017-’18 season--and as a native of Palmdale, California and star of Knight High School, there are enormously strong indications that the All-Star cannot wait to get to Los Angeles to put on the Lakers’ purple and gold. If George has his mind set on joining the Lakers, then Magic did the right thing by not trading away valuable young assets to attain one superstar. By the time George is available on the free agent market, the young players on the Lakers will be mature enough to surround George with what should be a competitive and winning team. Add to that the fact that without George on the team this year, the Lakers will still be bad enough to finish in the bottom three at the end of the year and increase their odds to add yet another young, top-echelon player to their roster through the draft for next season. This season has been nothing short of frenetic for the Lakers as fans have once again had to temper their expectations. A young core of players takes time to get used to the pace and rhythm of playing in the NBA and on an 82-game schedule. The first step toward future success, however, is having a front office in place that not only knows its players, but also knows its future. With Magic, the Lakers finally have that. In addition to his business and basketball acumen, Johnson also brings a charisma that can’t be found most anywhere else in the league. “He’s got a presence about him that’s nice,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “He’s been very supportive.” The Lakers can use all of the support that they can get as they head into an offseason that will undoubtedly be full of even more question marks. While fans of the Lakers may not currently have all of the answers that they are looking for, they can take solace in the fact that a new front office will do its job to get the team back on track. It isn’t easy, especially when Los Angeles has been as bad as they have been over the past four seasons. A new era of Lakers basketball has finally arrived and now there is only one question left to be answered. Do you believe in Magic? • – Asixlion@earthlink.net 7.0 in. 7.0 in. be a dad today. Take time to Cal l 877- 4DAD411 o r v i s it www. f a t h e r h o o d . g o v 4.875 in. be a dad today. Take time to Cal l 877- 4DAD411 o r v i s it www. f a t h e r h o o d . g o v
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