It was, by Rancho Bernardo boys soccer Coach Kurt Trecker’s account, an unlikely corner kick that led to his team’s loss in the San Diego Section CIF final game against San Pasqual this past Saturday.

Trecker, who led the Broncos to a 21-2-2 season and to their first section final since 2002, was recounting how in the 43rd minute of play, the 11th seeded Eagles scored the game winning goal that would dash his team’s hope for a section crown and end what was easily the best season a Bronco soccer team has had in a while.

“Their goal was great, I’m not going to take away anything from that,” Trecker said. “But it went back post and dropped to feet and that normally doesn’t happen on corners. Usually you have to put those away with your head.”

Trecker said that, when it came down to it, though San Pasqual might have had more possession of the ball — “Our passes weren’t finding each other’s feet,” he noted — the Broncos weren’t outplayed.

“They got one (goal) and we didn’t,” Trecker said. “It was one opportunity on a corner kick that they really put away.”

On the other side of the coin, Rancho Bernardo’s clearest assault on goal was also a shot that could have just as easily gone into the net when Dallin Cutler hit the crossbar from about the 40-yard-line.

The ball rebounded and Jimmy Crane tried to head it into the net from inside the penalty box, but San Pasqual goalie Javier Martinez ended up with the save.

Following the San Pasqual goal, which was scored by Andrew Malkiewicz on the kick-in by Jeremy Simpson, the Eagles fell back, and though they forged ahead, Rancho Bernardo wasn’t able to tie things up.

After the defeat, Trecker said that while the loss was painful, it did not erase all of the accomplishments that the team had during the course of the season.
The Broncos finished with the best record in San Diego, Trecker said, and allowed only 14 goals during all of the team’s 25 games.

“This is a super-solid, strong team. We’ve worked hard and we win as a team and lose as a team,” he said. “This one obviously hurt ... but it doesn’t take away from the great season (the team) had.”

While the team was hoping it could still move on to the 2010 CIF SoCal Soccer Regional Championships, that was not to be, since the team did not get one of the tournament’s eight berths when they were announced Sunday.

The Broncos made it to the finals by defeating Poway High, the only other team that was able to beat the Broncos this season.

Poway won the game, held Thursday, March 11, 2-1 in a come-from-behind victory. Both goals against the Titans were scored by Rey Ezra, who had to miss the final games after he injured his knees.

“I didn’t know how bad it was until the game was about to start,” Trecker said, noting that Ezra suffered from tendonitis throughout the season.

“Certainly we could have used his talents,” he added. “But I asked the other guys to step up and they did.”