Girls soccer: Mesa adds offense to mix

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - The Costa Mesa High girls soccer team has made an

effort to inject some much-needed offense into a solid, defensive-minded

squad.

The Mustangs allowed one goal or less in 18 of 20 contests last year,

but only put together an 8-4-8 record and were eliminated from the first

round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs by Bishop

Montgomery.

“We’re going to score more goals this year,” Mesa Coach Dan Johnston

announced. “We’ve been working on our transition game in the off-season

and we have more players who can put the ball in the back of the net.”

Johnston is looking for a more balanced attack from his squad. Players

like Sharon Day, Sarah Smallcomb, Fernanda Velasco, Lisa Dunn and Sarah

Ronquillo will be asked to provide some scoring to take some of the

attention off of sniper Katie Roche, a third-team All-CIF selection as a

junior last year.

“We’ve got a pretty strong group of players that can score,” Johnston

said. “It’s just a matter of playing together and taking advantage of the

opportunities that present themselves.”

If they’re not asked to slam the ball into the net, look for Day,

Velasco and Roche to lead the group that prevents the opponents from

slamming balls into their net.

“Players like Katie, Sharon and Fernanda will be asked to play a

number of positions,” Johnston said. “It depends on the flow of the game

and where I think we need the most help.”

Juniors Nichelle Janti and Chelsea Soria will rotate as Mesa’s

goalkeepers and both will try to fill a big hole left by departed senior

Margaret Landeros, now at Orange Coast College.

“Margaret did a great job for us back there, so our keepers have a lot

to live up to,” Johnston said. “Both are also good field players, so if

one isn’t in goal, she’ll be out playing somewhere else for us.”

As far as league supremacy goes, it is up for grabs, according to

Johnston.

“University is very physically fit, Corona del Mar is a great team

with great speed and Laguna Beach has nearly its entire crew coming

back,” Johnston said. “As for us, we’re playing well together, our

passing is improving and if we stay focused, we’ll be right in the thick

of things again.”

Costa Mesa girls soccer

5 Sarah Smallcomb Sr.

8 Nichelle Janti Jr.

9 Sharon Day So.

11 Fernanda Velasco Sr.

16 Katie Roche Sr.

15 Robyn Weber Sr.

17 Faride Loera Sr.

27 Devin Denman So.

30 Natalee Schoetler Jr.

35 Tiffany Gorndahl Jr.

36 Sandra Sparks Sr.

37 Mae Powers Sr.

39 Jamie Schroeder Sr.

50 Natalie Masciale Jr.

53 Lisa Dunn Jr.

55 Sarah Ronquillo Jr.

56 Emily Abbott So.

59 Emily Vizbeek Sr.

60 Chelsea Soria Jr.

Coach - Dan Johnston