La Quinta rallies for CIF championship in boys soccer

They were down, but never out.

In a season where doubt has fueled the La Quinta boys soccer team, there was plenty of that to go around after the Blackhawks fell behind 2-0 in the first 10 minutes of the CIF-SS Division 2 Boys Soccer Championship.

But La Quinta never gave up attacking against Santa Ana, a team that hadn’t given up a goal all postseason, and came back to tie the game 2-2 at halftime and score the go-ahead and eventual game-winner from Jared Ortiz in the 60th minute for a 3-2 victory.

The Blackhawks started their rally with a Andrassy Teran header just minutes after the Saints had taken a 2-0 lead. Junior forward Adam Lopez got the equalizer moments later.

The win marks the school’s first CIF championship in boys soccer.