By Jon Haber
Special to the Daily Press

DOWNTOWN The Santa Monica boys’ soccer team is on the verge of making history yet again just a week after celebrating the program’s first ever undefeated championship season, taking home the California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section Division IV championship.

The Vikings (28-0-1) will take on the Poway Titans of San Diego (20-2-4) Saturday at Warren High School in Downey in the first ever CIF state division championship game.

“Right now, we’re feeling really good,” said Nick Ferro, senior defender for the Vikings. “We’re confident coming into this game. We know if we play our game, we can beat anyone out there.”

CIF officials implemented the state division tournament in 2008, allowing top Southern California teams to compete for a state title. Samohi defeated Newbury Park High School, 2-1, and Banning of Wilmington, 3-0, this past week to advance to the finals match.

Although Samohi has dominated opponents all season long, head coach Frank Gatell knows a tough challenge lies ahead for his boys.

“Poway is a very strong defensive team,” he said. “They have physical size, and I’m expecting a very good match Saturday.”

But Samohi players feel their offense can execute a game plan to beat the Titans.

“We’re going to play aggressive and try to settle the ball. We can use our skill to our advantage because we do have it,” Ferro said.

The Vikings’ victory over Banning Thursday came without the Vikings’ defensive leader on the field.

All-CIF senior goal keeper Alex Kovacs was not allowed to play after receiving a red card in the match against Newbury Park for kicking an opposing player in the back of the ankle. Although the play appeared accidental — Gatell says Kovacs was going for the ball, not the player — new FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football) rules state any collision initiated by a goal keeper will result in an automatic red card.

Because of the incident, the Vikings had to rely on sophomore goal keeper Michael Freedman to anchor the defense, and he did not disappoint. He had four saves and helped lead Samohi to its eighth shutout victory in its last nine games.

“(Freedman) couldn’t have done a better job,” Ferro said. “He played a flawless game.”

Senior lock-down defender Chris De La Rosa was also a big factor in the Vikings’ defensive scheme. The senior shutdown the Pilot’s leading scorer, junior forward Guillermo Beltran, who scored 23 goals on the season.

“(De La Rosa) played Beltran very physical. He took him to the wings and did not allow Beltran to get around him,” Gatell said.

The rest of the defense focused on keeping the Pilots toward the outside of the field. Banning is known as a very strong team up the middle, so Samohi worked hard to expose the Pilots on the wings.

Gatell said, “We used [junior midfielders] Ricky Martinez and Juan Magana on the wings and made it very clear to the midfielders not to hold onto the ball in the middle of the field.”

Samohi’s offense was led by its trio of senior forwards. Alessandro Canale focused on passing the ball out to the wings to open the offensive attack, while Eddie Delgado scored twice and Artur Jozkowicz scored the final goal.

The execution didn’t surprise Ferro, whose seen his forwards lead the offensive charge from day one.

“Our offense has been amazing all year,” he said. “Everyone’s stepped up when we needed them to. It’s amazing to see.”

The Vikings’ offense and defense is going to have to step up one last time Saturday to bring Santa Monica a state championship. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.

news@smdp.com