Kaiser tops Eastbluff with precision passing

Rick Devereux

The parents of the Kaiser third- and fourth-grade girls soccer team

should be proud their daughters know the importance of sharing.

The Knights used precision passing to open up the fifth annual

Daily Pilot Cup with a 4-0 win over Eastbluff Tuesday at the Costa

Mesa Farm Complex.

“I think [the main reason we won] was our passing,” Coach Irma

Messersmith said. “We had good spacing and we were able to get the

ball to the open player.”

Kaiser wasted no time applying pressure as Jill Messersmith

centered a pass to Delaney McCradle, but Eastbluff goalkeeper Kendall

Mulvaney made a save in the first minute of action.

Kaiser scored in the third minute on a play similar to one two

minutes prior as Messersmith dribbled up the left sideline. Her

crossing pass skidded past the goalkeeper and to the far post where

Taury Hlinka finished the play with a goal.

Kaiser also had stellar defense as Kenya Avila stuffed the ball in

front of the right goal post after goalkeeper Casey Duckworth was

unable to make the stop.

Messersmith displayed more fancy footwork in the 10th minute as

she looked to pass the ball, but ended up dribbling the ball between

two defenders. Her eventual shot hit the far post.

Messersmith again created an open lane for herself in the 13th

minute, but instead of shooting the ball, she crossed it to Isabel

Mohr, whose shot was saved by Mulvaney.

The Knights stretched the lead to 2-0 in the 15th minute when McCardle ended the first half with a breakaway goal that found its

way past a diving goalkeeper.

McCardle extended the lead to 3-0 in the first minute of the

second half on another breakaway.

Hlinka scored the final goal, a shot that ricocheted off the

goalie, in the 27th minute.

Kaiser controlled the ball in the second half to run out the

clock.

“We had a good time,” Irma Messersmith said. “[Opening the

tournament with a win] makes you feel confident.”

Kaiser, which was the tournament runner-up last year, left the

field feeling confident, but the Eastbluff team was also happy with

the performance on the pitch.

“We put up a good fight for the group we had,” Coach Brian

Mulvaney said. “I think we played with a lot of heart.”

While Mulvaney said he was happy with the play of the entire team,

he pointed out the play of center defenseman Kylie Mulvaney, forward

Nikki Hevar, midfielder Bailey Beachump and center midfielder

Catherine Patel.

“[Those players] really stepped up for us, even though we lost,”

Mulvaney said. “It’s hard for us to play in the gold division, but

all of our girls played as hard as they could. I couldn’t ask much

more from them. They played their hearts out.”

Mulvaney said he was pleased with the effort of the players

because less than half of his team play soccer regularly and

Eastbluff is a smaller school than most in the tournament, meaning

less players to choose from.

Kaiser (1-0) plays Newport Heights (1-0) today at 4:45 with

Eastbluff (0-1) playing Harbor View (0-1) on an adjacent field at the

same time.