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Santa Ana Valley soccer defeats Esperanza with 3-goal burst in Division 5 final

February 28, 2026

ORANGE — Once the Santa Ana Valley boys soccer team scored the game’s first goal against Esperanza in Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 5 championship, there was little the Aztecs could do to slow down Falcons.

Jose Munoz scored the first goal 18 minutes into the second half, Guillermo Vargas scored the second and Daniel Navarro put the game away with the third goal of the half as the Falcons came away with a 3-0 victory at El Modena High School.

The Southern Section title is the third for the Falcons since 2006 under coach Jose Sanchez.

“It is so difficult to get to this point,” Sanchez said. “I’ve been a coach for 25 some years and it had been 16 (years) since we’ve been here. I told the kids enjoy this. Take advantage of it because we don’t know when we will come back. It’s so difficult and we’re just so fortunate and blessed to be here and win it.”

After a scoreless, evenly played first half, the Falcons came out in the second and came close to scoring on two separate occasions.

Players on the Esperanza boys soccer team receive the plaque for finishing second in the CIF-SS Division 5 playoffs. The Aztecs lost to Santa Ana Valley 3-0 in the finals Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

The Falcons’ Marvin Villela was controlling the ball against two defenders at the baseline, just to the right of the goal. Villela got the ball to Munoz, who kicked the ball on the ground and into the net.

Munoz said he positioned himself about 25 yards out from the goal, anticipating that he’d have an opportunity to score.

“The whole season we were working hard for this and we knew we were going to win it,” Munoz said.

Seven minutes later, Vargas scored from inside the box on a shot that appeared to deflect off of a defender and into the goal.

“Once I saw the second goal go in, I knew we were going to win it because the other team slowed down a bit,” Munoz said.

With 10 minutes remaining, Navarro took away any chance of a late comeback by the Aztecs when he curved the ball into the net on a free kick from 35 yards out.

Controlling the game from the midfield forward position was the key behind the Falcons’ dominance in the second half, Sanchez said.

“I just told the boys that we got to keep the ball down,” the coach said. “They were a bigger team than us. We made a couple mistakes in the back early that didn’t cost us. But I said, hey, what are we doing? Let’s not make mistakes in the back and we’re going to be fine.”

The Falcons advance to the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs that begin Tuesday. The regional playoff brackets will be announced Sunday.

Santa Ana Valley soccer defeats Esperanza with 3-goal burst in Division 5 final Orange County Register

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Santa Ana Valley soccer defeats Esperanza with 3-goal burst in Division 5 final

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