IRVINE, Calif. – Roberto Estrada and Cesar Naranjo provided the scoring power as the Hope International men's soccer team battled to a 2-1 victory over visiting OUAZ on a scorching Saturday at the OC Great Park.
The Royals picked up three important points in the GSAC standings in moving to 5-3-3 overall and 2-2-3 in the conference. With a total of nine points, the Royals rank sixth in the conference standings, one point ahead of Soka and two in front of La Sierra. The top six teams advance to the GSAC Tournament.
HIU is 5-1-0 this season after scoring two or more goals. The Royals are 0-2-3 when scoring one goal or less.
Estrada netted his second goal of the season on a set piece. Cesar Naranjo bent a pass toward the far post and the timing was perfect, as the ball met a charging Estrada, who rammed home a header at the 10:14 mark. Naranjo recorded his first assist.
The Royals nearly went up by two goals in the 21st minute as Alejandro Oropeza, who juked his defender to the right to create space, boomed a shot off the crossbar.
HIU settled for a 1-0 halftime lead, carrying an 11-5 shots advantage.
The Spirit knotted the score at 1-1 a little over five minutes into the second half. Daniel Coke poked a through ball onto the foot of Harry Dwelly, who took a couple of dribbles and notched his fourth goal of the season.
However, HIU held the Spirit to just two more shots over the final 39 minutes, setting up the heroics from Naranjo on yet another set piece. Following an OUAZ foul, Naranjo bent a left-footed laser around the OUAZ wall and into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
The strike at the 74:06 mark made Naranjo the ninth Royal to enter the goal column in 2026.
Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Beehler made four saves to anchor HIU defensively. Major Evans, who came off the bench late in the first half to replace OUAZ starting netminder Jack Murdoch, stopped one shot.
OUAZ fell to 2-8-2 overall and 1-5-1 in conference play.
Oropeza and Jorge Orozco led the HIU effort with three shots apiece.
The Royals face another important GSAC matchup on Tuesday when they host La Sierra at 7:00 p.m. inside the OC Great Park Stadium.
