Bonanza’s postseason goals realistic after beating Western

After losing three of its previous four games, Bonanza’s boys soccer team seemed to have damaged its chances of reaching the Sunset Region playoffs.

The Bengals had tumbled into fifth place in the Southwest League, and an apparent turnaround from last season’s dismal 2-12-1 finish was beginning to look like a fairy tale.

On Tuesday, Bonanza proved its turnaround is reality with a convincing 3-1 upset over visiting Western.

“We were kind of falling apart a little bit in the last few games,” junior forward Frazier Berman said. “All through the week we’ve been training really hard to pull out of it. I think this one will do it for us, but we’ll see.”

Frazier was one of three scorers for the Bengals (6-5-1, 5-4-1 Southwest). John Milne and Chatchawin Kruaboonraj also scored.

“It’s a huge win,” coach Thomas Rainey said. “It puts us right into playoff position and right where we want to be at this point.”

Though the Bengals are still fifth, they gained three points in the Southwest standings and trail fourth-place Spring Valley (7-5-0, 6-4-0) by two points.

Chad Smith had an assist for Bonanza, which rallied with three goals after Western’s Eric Escalera scored early in the first half.
Kruaboonraj and Milne scored late in the half, and Bonanza blanked Western in the second half.

“That’s (our) strong point, defense,” Rainey said.

Berman said the keys were the Bengals’ conditioning and their play at midfield.

“If you win the ball in the midfield, you’re going to win the game, and that’s what we did today,” he said.

To reach the postseason, the Bengals will still have to get through regular-season games against first-place Clark (9-1-1, 7-1-1) and at Gorman (9-6, 7-3).

“They’re enjoying the win tonight,” Rainey said, “but starting tomorrow, it’s Clark.”

Western (8-2-2, 6-2-2) fell from second to third in the Southwest. The Warriors had a three-game winning streak snapped, losing for the first time since Sept. 23. They had three injured players on the field and two more who sat out, coach Brian Burkert said.

“It’s just tough right now heading into the end of the season,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of guys that are struggling to stay healthy and get out on the field.”

Asked if he still felt his team had a good chance to reach the postseason, Burkert said: “I don’t think we have a pretty good chance — we’ll be there.”

Bonanza lost 3-2 at Western on Sept. 10, a game both coaches agreed was on players’ minds.

“We played them so well at Western, and we lost by mental mistakes,” Rainey said. “This game meant everything to my players. The boost it’s going to give them, it’s going to be huge.”

Burkert added: “I knew we were going to have a tough game against Bonanza. We got them the first time and they wanted to come back and get us.”

Bonanza’s Alex Iorlano left the game with a bloody facial injury after taking an inadvertent elbow midway through the second half, but was helped by athletic trainers and should be OK, Rainey said.