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CHULA VISTA -- Departing is such sweet sorrow.
The Flash, San Diego's first-year entry in soccer's A-League, concluded a five-game home stand with its fifth straight win last night, beating the Orange County Zodiac 4-0 before 2,889 at Southwestern College's Devore Stadium.
The victory moved the Flash (8-4, 24 points) within one point of first-place Orange County (9-5, 25 points) in the Pacific Division. The win was the club's second over the Zodiac in as many weeks as San Diego established a season high for goals in a game.
"I knew that no mater how things turned out that this home stand would set a trend for us, because we were facing some very good teams," said coach Ralf Wilhelms, whose club resumes play July 1 when it visits the Staten Island Vipers of the Northeast Division. "Winning 4-0 against a first-place team isn't too bad."
The Flash, whose winning streak is the second-longest active in the league, has not lost since May 17 when it dropped a 2-0 decision to the Zodiac. Orange County entered last night's game with three wins in its last four games.
But as has been the case throughout the winning streak, goalkeeper Joe Cannon was outstanding again, turning in his fifth straight shutout and seventh of the season. The Flash has not allowed a goal in 450 minutes, the top mark in the league.
Cannon, who preserved his string of shutouts when he stopped a penalty shot in the 90th minute of a 2-0 win over Seattle last week, duplicated that last night when he slammed the door on Orange County's Eddie Soto in the 75th minute.
"Honestly, I think I've had a little luck from above in saving those (penalty) kicks," Cannon said. "Week in and week out, it's just a matter of cleaning up the garbage that gets through our defense. I guess I'm in a little bit of a zone . . . "
The Flash, now 7-0 when scoring first, took a 1-0 lead in just the fifth minute when midfielder/forward Antonio Robles lofted a 40-yard shot over the head of Zodiac goalkeeper Mike Littman, who had been caught upfield.
Littman also would figure prominently in San Diego's second goal when he was whistled for fouling forward Lafe Vittitoe in the penalty box in the 43rd minute. Carlos Cruz converted the resultant penalty kick.
Midfielder Nate Hetherington's third goal in as many games made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute, as the former San Dieguito High and UCSD standout knocked in a rebound of a shot by Vittitoe.
Forward Brad Smith completed the scoring, beating Littman from point-blank range.
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