Edison girls’ soccer battles back to earn draw at Huntington Beach

Scoreboard watching during the game was an impossibility, but it was natural for both the Edison and Huntington Beach high school girls’ soccer teams to feel a bit of regret after the final whistle Thursday night.

The Chargers and Oilers played to a 1-1 tie at Huntington Beach. They then learned that league-leading Los Alamitos had also tied, 2-2 at Newport Harbor, so both Edison and Huntington Beach missed an opportunity to move up in the Sunset League standings with a win.

“Wow!” Huntington Beach coach Raul Ruiz exclaimed when learning of the Los Alamitos score. “It just goes to show you how difficult this league is.”

With four games remaining, the league remains unpredictable. Los Alamitos has won against every team except last-place Newport Harbor, which the Griffins have tied twice.

As it stands, Los Alamitos (4-0-2 in league) is alone in first place with 14 points. Edison (7-5-5, 3-2-1 in league) moves into outright second place after Marina (3-3-0 in league) lost 1-0 at Fountain Valley on Thursday.

Huntington Beach is 11-7-4 overall and 2-2-2 in league, which puts the Oilers a point behind the Vikings in fourth place. Yet, they are still in the hunt.

“I’m just proud of the way our girls handled themselves,” Ruiz said. “Like I told them, a tie is not the best, especially here at home. But against a rival like Edison, you know what, it’s not a bad result.”

The Oilers were able to bounce back from a 3-0 loss at Los Alamitos on Tuesday, plus a 2-0 loss to Edison in the league opener on Jan. 2. On Thursday, sophomore forward Kayden Heinrich gave Huntington Beach the early lead in the 11th minute.

Heinrich took a pass from senior Alijah Oliver near the top of the box. She gained inside position on an Edison defender before rocketing a shot into the upper part of the net.

The Oilers nearly doubled their lead in the 25th minute, but Edison senior goalkeeper Amy Kirk made a point-blank save in the box on Huntington Beach sophomore Cina Wilson. Kirk had bobbled the first shot, which came in low from outside the box by the Oilers’ Summer Stewart, but came up big on Wilson’s rebound attempt.

The save proved big in the 37th minute, when the Chargers got the equalizer. Junior forward Rachelle Elve stayed hot, netting her third goal in three games on an assist by Alexis Komisza.

“They came out fast and physical,” Edison coach Kerry Crooks said. “We started establishing our game, working on counteracting their physicality.”

The Chargers started playing their possession offense more effectively in the second half. Players like senior captains Madison Macias and Michael Guptill kept creating chances, but Huntington Beach sophomore keeper Chloe Romney was aggressive, coming off her line to make four saves in the half.

The Oilers, who play at Newport Harbor on Monday at 5 p.m., actually had the best chance for the game winner in the 79th minute after sophomore midfielder Xolani Hodel was fouled at midfield. Oliver’s free kick bounced around in the box and found Heinrich in the right side of the box. Her shot bounced off the crossbar and went down, but the referee ruled it wasn’t a goal and the Chargers cleared the ball.

Edison, which earned a 1-0 win over rival Fountain Valley on Tuesday, plays host to Marina on Monday at 5 p.m. The Chargers hope they can finish strong to earn their second straight league title.

“We knew that [Huntington Beach] would come out harder than last time,” Guptill said. “But then we started to play our game, make tackles and just be more aggressive. We definitely wish we could have gotten the win today, but it was a good week overall.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo