Girls soccer: Kaiser defends crown

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Kaiser Elementary defeated Harbor Day, 3-1, in a Daily

Pilot Cup third- and fourth-grade girls soccer title game between two

teams some thought would never get that far.

Kaiser, which sent the majority of last year’s championship team up to

compete in the fifth- and sixth-grade division, had to get past powerful

Carden Hall in one semifinal to advance.

Harbor Day played one player short the entire tournament, without the

luxury of substitutes.

But there they were Saturday afternoon at The Farm Complex.

Kaiser, which outscored its first three tournament foes, 12-0, to

reach the semifinals, broke a scoreless deadlock with two goals late in

the first half.

Alice Cope fired a long shot high into the net, over the

well-positioned goalie, before Kayla Henrie scored on a direct free kick

about two minutes later.

But Harbor Day, battling as it had all tournament long, dug in.

Rebecca Beyer scored on an assist from fellow forward Jackie Dion to

close the gap, before Kaiser iced the victory with a goal by Sara Gomez.

“Defense was the key for us all tournament,” said Kaiser Coach Ed

Francis, who singled out the work of Stephanie Castor, Terra Giacomaro

and Tina Theriot, in front of primary goalkeeper Courtney Francis.

Harbor Day Coach Brian Bilder could not have been more proud of his

Seahawks.

“I’m not sure the kids realize just how well they played,” Bilder

said. “We played 10 vs. 11 with no subs and made it to the finals. Kaiser

beat the great Carden Hall and we played (Kaiser) even for 58 minutes

(other than the brief first-half span the Knights scored twice). The

heart and soul of these kids is incredible.”

Bilder singled out goalie Olivia Fankuchen, midfielders Laura Bilder

and Kelsey Valley, as well as offensive catalysts Beyer, Dion and Chelsea

McDonald.

In the semifinals:

Kaiser 3, Carden Hall 3 (Kaiser advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3): After

the two teams split six goals in regulation and each converted 3 of 5

penalty kicks, Alex Griggs scored on a sudden-death penalty kick to put

the Knights into the final.

Harbor Day 0, Lincoln 0 (Harbor Day advanced on penalty kicks, 3-2):

After Fankuchen anchored a regulation shutout in goal, Valley, Dion and

Beyer booted penalty kicks to key the victory.

Kaiser roster

Stephanie Castor

Alice Cope

Elizabeth Cramer

Courtney Francis

Alexandra Garcia

Stephanie Garcia

Terra Giacomaro

Sara Gomez

Alex Griggs

Kayla Henrie

Kelly Heenan

Lauren Thagard

Tina Theriot

Shayanne Usman

Coach: Ed Francis