Mustangs feel sting

Steve Virgen

It was a sight the Costa Mesa High girls soccer team would rather

forget, but one that Mustangs Coach Dan Johnston would like his

players to remember.

Irvine sophomore Krysten O’Dea scored in the final minute, leading

the Vaqueros to a stunning 1-0 victory over Costa Mesa Thursday under

the lights at the Costa Mesa Farm Field. Just two seconds after the

ball was put in play after O’Dea’s goal, the final whistle blew.

The Mustangs (2-4) owned the game until the final minute,

outshooting the Vaqueros, 18-5. Afterward, Johnston asked a Costa

Mesa player’s parent if he taped Irvine’s goal on his video camera.

The parent replied, yes.

“I’m going to show it to them a thousand times, until they puke,”

Johnston said. “I want them to see how pathetic that was.”

Johnston was angered with his team’s play, particularly near the

end of the game. After his post-game meeting, Johnston walked toward

the sideline, threw his clipboard to the ground and also chucked his

pencil in the same direction.

“We outplayed them the whole game,” Johnston said. “It was

absolutely wonderful play, until we stunk the place up. We just

absolutely crunched them and then just gave it away ... We gave them

a nice Christmas present.”

To that, Irvine’s second-year coach Gwen Conine replied with

little shyness.

“Hey, we’ll take it,” she said. “I would have been happy with a

tie, but a win is certainly sweet. I think we earned that win by not

giving up.”

Conine, whose team improved to 3-1-1, credited her goalie,

Brittany Goetz, for the Vaqueros’ shutout. Goetz, a junior, recorded

seven saves, including one crucial stop in the 60th minute.

Junior Nilani Duarte started the scoring chance for the Mustangs,

leading sophomore Jasmin Day on a breakaway. Day fired off a shot

toward the corner of the net, but Goetz jumped to tip it away. She

made two more saves after that, and then O’Dea struck with the Costa

Mesa heartbreaker.

She stole the ball near midfield and dribbled the rest of the way,

outracing defenders before sending the shot to the back of the net.

“We got sloppy and stupid with our tackling at the end and gave

them the game,” Johnston said. “That just kills me. And, they all

know better. I guess they thought Irvine would play for a tie, but

[the Vaqueros] didn’t.”

Costa Mesa, as its coach said, played well in the first half,

outshooting Irvine, 11-1. However, Johnston thought the Mustangs did

not take good shots and went at the net with bad angles. He did

credit Goetz with a well-played game.

Day, Duarte, Stacy Krikorian, Vera Gale and Kara Jenkins were

greatly responsible for the Mustangs’ scoring opportunities, but the

Vaqueros continued to turn them away.

The Mustangs, last year’s co-champions of CIF Southern Section

Division III, need to find their rhythm and start winning, Johnston

said. He has not seen the team respond to adversity yet.

“We should have had a wake-up call the last four losses,” Johnston

said. “If they don’t wake up after this, it will be a long year.”

Costa Mesa was without junior standout Jenny Sparks, who is out

for at least two weeks with a strained knee, an injury that was

suffered Tuesday, Johnston said.