The Orchard Valley OMI Eagles hit the tournament trail last
weekend by participating in their own tournament, the Morgan
Hill/Gilroy Cup held at the Morgan Hill Complex.
MORGAN HILL – The Orchard Valley OMI Eagles hit the tournament trail last weekend by participating in their own tournament, the Morgan Hill/Gilroy Cup held at the Morgan Hill Complex.
The Eagles, which finished with two wins and two losses to place fourth, faced Lamorinda FC for the first game on Saturday, falling short in a 3-2 opening loss.
Rick Saavedra got the Eagles on the scoreboard first when he converted a crossing pass from teammate Orlando Villa. But Lamorinda came back strong, scoring three consecutive goals to go up 3-1. Nick Salvemini then scored for the Eagles to cut the gap to one before time ran expired.
The Eagles rebounded in their second Saturday contest with a 7-1 shellacking of the Spartans White, out of Sacramento.
Once again, Saavedra put the Eagles up early with an unassisted strike and then Villa followed with a goal to make it a 2-0 game. Roupen Arzoumanian joined the scorefeast next and finished with a three-goal hat trick to lead the charge. Saavedra then scored again and Salvemini finished off the Eagles’ goals.
The Eagles rode the momentum in their next game, dominating the Sonoma Alliance for a 5-1 victory.
Garrett Wheeler opened the scoring off an assist from Salvemini followed by an Arzoumanian strike for a 2-0 advantage. Wheeler posted the third goal and Saavedra sank the fourth off an assist from Villa. Wheeler then completed his hat trick with a third goal.
The next day, the Eagles played in the consolation round against the North Valley Titans. The local club settled for fourth place though, after losing in a penalty kick shootout.
Saavedra put the Eagles on the board first when he finished off a crossing pass from Pablo Figueroa. But the Titans came back to tie the score and, after two scoreless overtime sessions, the teams went into penalty kicks.
“The entire team played outstanding and really extended themselves to compensate for missing personnel,” Coach Jack Salvemini said. “Matt Morgan did an outstanding job in the goal and Adam Johnson, Sean Little, Cesar Lustre, Omar Mustafa and Fernando Pedroza really rose to the ocassion.”
Up next, the Eagles will play the Morgan Hill Complex this weekend in the South San Jose Invitational.
