Girls field hockey: Evans’ hat trick is treat for Tars

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - Newport Harbor High girls field hockey coach Sharon

Wolfe couldn’t bear the sight of it. All week long she had told her

players to spread themselves out in regards to attacking the net on

offense. And two minutes into the match, senior Elizabeth Evans was out

of position and in Wolfe’s doghouse.

Wolfe immediately took her standout out of the match as a matter of

discipline and so that the senior could see how the coach wanted it done.

Evans learned quickly.

She reentered the match and scored a hat trick to go with Harbor’s

seventh shutout of the season, a 3-0 victory over Santiago at Harper

Community Center.

“That was a fuse that just exploded,” said Wolfe of her reaction to

Evan’s error.

Evans scored her first goal with nine minutes left in the first half

as she finished a pass from Kim Erickson for a 1-0 halftime lead.

“It was good for me,” Evans said of her early exit from the match.

“That was something I needed to work on.”

The Tars’ defense continually stuffed the Sanitago Cavaliers (2-1-1).

In the first half, Santiago’s offense crossed midfield just three times.

And Harbor didn’t allow a shot on goal throughout the match.

The Sailors (8-0-1 with only one goal allowed) got two more goals in

the second half from Evans as Newport controlled the flow of the match

and finished with 19 shots on goal and 10 penalty corners.

With just under 13 minutes remaining, Evans knocked in her second goal

on a quick play: Lauren Birchfield sent a tap-pass to Allison McKenzie

who drifted the ball to Evans for the score.

Evans scored her final goal with 1:35 left, this time taking a pass

from Piper Phillips.

“I’m really surprised we’re doing this well right now, because of all

the players we lost from last year,” Wolfe said. “We don’t need to

concentrate on wins or get too cocky. We have to keep doing whatever it

takes to get better.”

The Sailors also beat the Cavaliers on Saturday by the same score.

In both matches, Santiago played a bit short-handed. Saturday,

Santiago played the match with just 11 players. On Tuesday, the Cavaliers

had just one substitution player, Jessica Brito, and she didn’t play the

second half because she was recovering from a concussion suffered during

a match on Thursday.

Harbor took advantage of Santiago’s lack of stamina. In the process,

the Sailors gained confidence. And where the Sailors needed it most -

scoring goals.

Last season, Newport played just as well but did not score as much,

Wolfe said. This year, the Tars are attacking the net with more success.

“We have a good will to win,” said Birchfield, a Harbor junior. “We

have a really good chemistry on the team because we have a good

friendship.”