Bears oust young Mustangs

RIVERSIDE — This Costa Mesa High girls’ soccer team won the program’s sixth straight league championship and advanced to the playoffs for what Coach Dan Johnston believes is at least 10 straight seasons.

But after the Mustangs fell to host Riverside Poly, 2-1, in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs Wednesday at UC Riverside, Johnston said this team may have come farther than the other league champions to reach similar status.

“There were 11 new players on this team and the first few games, it was ugly,” Johnston said. “We looked like a recreation league team. But what has set this team apart is that this team kept learning from its mistakes. With [the players] doing that, we went from a team that wasn’t considered to win league to playing with anyone in the CIF playoffs. It was a group that was fun to coach and it was a wonderful season.”

That season was nearly extended by a second-half comeback that almost allowed the Mustangs (13-8-3) to erase a 2-0 halftime deficit to the Bears (22-2-3), who came in with 18 shutouts, including five in a row, and an 11-game unbeaten streak in which they had gone 10-0-1.

Poly, ranked No. 6 in the final CIF Division III regular-season poll, used its superior speed to capitalize in the opening half.

The hosts, who defeated Costa Mesa, 1-0, in the Ocean View Tournament on Dec. 7, opened the scoring in the 29th minute, when junior Channing Perea booted a left-footed shot through the Mustangs’ goalie after running down a cross from senior Callie Wilson.

Poly, which has outscored teams, 66-10, this season, doubled its lead in the 39th minute when junior midfielder Dani Pietro received a through ball from sophomore Blair Boone parallel with the right post and redirected her shot into the lower left corner of the net.

Pietro’s goal came on a defensive miscue Johnston later said cost his team the game.

“In the first half, our defense wasn’t working hard enough for position on their fast runners,” said Johnston, who also had plenty of praise for a defense led by junior sweeper Kristina Roche and junior left fullback Dana Gentling.

“[Roche and Gentling] played great,” Johnston said.

Center halfback Marina Lazos, one of only three seniors on the team, junior stopper Cheyenne Lopez, sophomore stopper Erica Finn and right fullback Breana Dorame also helped thwart the majority of chances forged by the quicker, more skilled Bears.

And, after halftime, when the hosts held a 9-5 advantage in shots, the midfield and forwards helped Mesa control play in the final 40 minutes.

“We came back strong and controlled all the action in the second half,” Johnston said. [The Bears] had to work to push the ball through the midfield on us. The way we came back was the sign of a championship team.”

The Mustangs scored in the 52nd minute, on a sequence initiated by a Lazos pass to junior Ayla Medina near the top of the 18-yard box. Medina sent a hooking shot toward the far corner of the cage, but Poly goalkeeper Charlotte Smith followed the curving blast to her right and managed to make a diving deflection. But the rebound dribbled out front, where junior striker Kyra Graham poked it home to energize the visitors and their fans.

Graham, the Mustangs’ leading scorer, was subject to double- and triple-teams throughout, but still managed to produce some chances for the visitors, who finished with 14 shots, three fewer than the Bears.

Medina got another chance in the 64th minute for the Mustangs, taking a cross from Graham and one-timing a blast that, unfortunately for the visitors, was directed right at Smith, who let it carom off her right shin, as if reacting in self-defense.

The chance created a collective groan from the Mesa faithful, as well as the Mustangs bench. Johnston, watching the play, raised both arms to his head as both knees buckled.

Smith made all four of her saves in the second half, including catching a low liner by Medina from 30 yards out.

Costa Mesa, which divided its goalkeeping chores, saw senior Kalea Seanoa make three first-half saves, while junior Jessica Rubright made three saves after intermission.

With 13 juniors on this team, Johnston believes good things may be ahead for Mesa.

“It’s sad for the seniors [all of whom shed tears after shaking hands with the winners afterward, including starting midfielder Sam Strodel],” Johnston said. “But we have a solid core for next season.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].