Angels use experience

COSTA MESA ? The players on the Our Lady Queen of Angels fifth- and sixth-grade girls’ Gold Division team have always worked well together. Two years ago, many of them made up the third- and fourth-grade team that advanced to the semifinals of the Daily Pilot Cup.

This year, with more experience under their collective belts, the team plans to make it further and made a move in that direction with a 5-0 win over St. Joachim on Thursday at the Farm Sports Complex.

“We’re old friends,” defender Christina Page said. “ We work together well.”

Stopper Claire McKinnon added that friendship plays a part in the team’s success.

“We’re all good at soccer and none of us are enemies,” McKinnon said. “It’s nice we’re on the same team.”

“It was the best teamwork we’ve [had] since the third- and fourth-grade team,” Elisabetta Impagliazzo said. “We communicated really well. We’re working really well together.”

“This year, we are more experienced and a lot of us have gone to club soccer,” Allyson Bernardy said. “Some of us are a lot better.”

St. Joachim goalkeeper Kiera Johnsen had nine saves in the first half and 10 in the game.

Impagliazzo dribbled into the heart of the defense before popping in the game’s first goal.

August Touchard took a shot and Caroline Strom gathered in the rebound, before shooting it into the upper-left corner for a 2-0 lead.

Impagliazzo sent a corner into a fray of players in the goal box and Avery Taylor controlled the pass and poked it in from close range to give the Angels a 3-0 lead.

Impagliazzo knifed through the defense once again for the fourth goal of the half. Despite McKinnon adding a goal in the second half, most of the time was spent on passing.dpt.02-dpcup-1-BPhotoInfoH11RJ25O20060602j07id3ncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)St. Joachim’s Milena Buonanoce, left, and Our Lady Queen of Angels’ Caroline Strom, right, try to make a play on the ball.