Castillo’s hat trick ignites Sharks, 3-0

Rick Devereux

The 3-0 victory for Newport Heights over Newport Coast on Wednesday

at the Costa Mesa Farm Sports Complex in the girls third- and

fourth-grade Daily Pilot Cup gold division was a lot closer than the

score indicated.

“On a scale of one to 10, I think we played a six and they played

an eight,” Newport Coast Coach Ali Sabouni said. “They didn’t really

outplay us too much.”

The first 15 minutes of the first half were evenly matched, with

both squads pushing the ball. Newport Heights’ Alexandra Halbrook

displayed some fancy footwork in the midfield to evade Coyotes

attackers, and Makena Owen took the ball the length of the field up

the right sideline for the Sharks before Samantha Alanis made the

nice save for Newport Coast. Alanis made several other nice stops in

the first half when the Sharks used their size advantage to get the

ball inside the penalty area.

Newport Heights began to control the ball in the final 10 minutes

of the first half, keeping most of the action in the Coyote zone. The

pressure led to several corner kicks for the Sharks, and Claire

Castillo made them count.

Castillo’s kick from the left corner hooked and deflected off a

Coyote defender for Newport Heights’ first goal. Two corner kicks

later, Castillo again found the back of the net from the left corner

when miscommunication allowed the ball to pass Newport Coast players.

Castillo converted her hat trick about 10 minutes into the second

half when she blasted the ball from outside the box and it took a

tricky bounce, ending up inside the left goal post.

“I’m happy with our performance today,” Newport Coast Coach Rick

Hergott said. “They had one superstar but our girls worked hard.”

Newport Heights Coach Bart Evans thought more than Castillo

deserved the credit for the win.

“I think we passed well and we stayed active,” he said. “We played

like a team out there.”

The pressure the Sharks applied resulted in a win, but it also

showed Sabouni the abilities of goaltenders Alanis and Nico Sabouni,

who defended the net in the second half.

“I really think our two goalies played their best and have great

potential,” he said.