Dolphins battle back to tie

COSTA MESA ? Both teams were aggressors for a half; Prince of Peace in the first half, and Mariners Christian in the second half.

So a 1-1 tie seemed the fairest way to end it, and that was the result in a third-and fourth-grade girls’ Silver Division game on Thursday at the Daily Pilot Cup.

Prince of Peace’s Madison Caffey, who had just missed a shot in the 16th minute, found the back of the net just before halftime. In the second half, however, it was a Mariners Christian onslaught. The Dolphins had about 10 corner kicks in the half, and the ball was almost always on the opposing Patriots’ side of the field.

Mariners Christian’s Brooke Schweitzer took advantage six minutes in, taking a poorly-cleared ball and striking it in to tie the score at 1-1.

“I wanted to score a goal for our team today, because we lost our last game and we wanted to win this game,” Schweitzer said.

Schweitzer and fellow forwards Claire McCarthy and Molly Langdon both each had numerous other chances to score the go-ahead goal. But they were each one was thwarted by solid Prince of Peace’s Lauren Steinke and Linnae Ehrlich played well.

“I was just hoping we’d make another goal and the ball would start going down there,” Rockwood said, motioning to the other side of the field.

Instead, the game ended in a tie, which was still an improvement for both schools. Both Mariners Christian and Prince of Peace had dropped their opening game of the Daily Pilot Cup tournament.

“Before the game, the girls had so much energy, and they started playing well together as a team,” said Mariners Christian Coach Rachel Toberty. “I was really proud of them for that, and happy with their performance.”

Bagdasar and second-half goalie Rachel Howard combined for five saves in goal, while Rockwood had eight for Prince of Peace.

Also playing well for Mariners Christian were Katie Allen, Bridget Kavanaugh, Abbey Pickett, Kristen Kiehnle, Brenna Currey, Kayla Wynne, Shannon Nelson and Christina Nelson.