OCU claims first tournament

The Orange Coast United girls under-9 soccer team, comprised of

players from Newport-Mesa, won the 23rd Annual Junior United Soccer

Association Tournament, beating the Orange Junior Soccer Club, 4-0,

in a recent final.

Karsten Sigband opened the scoring for OCU -- nicknamed “Rush” --

on a penalty kick and was followed by goals from Avery Taylor, Monica

Venturini and Jill Messersmith in the final. Alexa Mamatas and

Sigband assisted the goals by Venturini and Messersmith,

respectively. Messersmith was named Most Valuable Player by the

referees.

A strong defensive effort by Sydney Raguse, Alex Benson and

Courtney Smith, along with goalkeepers Cassidy Papa and Lisa

Matthews, contributed to the victory.

OCU opened the tournament with a 4-2 victory over the Whittier

Soccer Club, with Matthews, Taylor and Mamatas controlling play.

After a 2-0 loss to the Orange Junior Soccer Club, the Rush came

back to defeat Cypress, 4-2 Sunday morning. Two goals by Sigband,

along with one each from Matthews and Messersmith, keyed the victory.

It was the Rush’s first tournament victory.

* Corona del Mar’s boys under-10 Select Plus soccer team placed

third in the two-day MacMillan Cup that ended August 31.

Brent Lawson, Taylor Ross and Mason Case scored goals in a 3-0

victory over South Irvine in Game 1 while Case scored the lone goal

in a 1-0 victory over a rival CdM team in the second match. Nick

Curci, Will Morrow, Brent Gray and goalkeeper Clark Cashion helped on

defense in the shutout.

Select Plus tied Tustin, 3-3, in Game 3. Taylor Ross, Case and

Brennan Anderson scored the goals while Preston Risser, Kjell Wolker

(two assists) and Hector Marino (assist) contributed.