Mustangs run past Sea Kings

Chris Yemma

Getting off to a fast start is becoming a trend this season with the

Costa Mesa High girls soccer team.

After starting its season with four consecutive wins, the Mustangs

(5-2) dropped two last week. But on Monday, Mesa got back on track,

defeating district rival Corona del Mar, 2-1, in a nonleague game on

the quick, artificial surface at Orange Coast College.

The artificial turf spurred a fast-paced game and Mesa took

advantage early, scoring both of its goals in a first half that

turned into a shooting spree.

The Mustangs are enjoying a fast start that could continue their

string of success in recent years. Last season, they reached the

second round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs, after

sharing the Division III crown the year before.

Against the Sea Kings Monday, Mesa fired away in the first half

and rode its defense to the victory in the second half.

In the 13th minute, senior Nilani Duarte threw the ball in to

junior Jasmin Day down the right wing. Day then one-touched it back

to Duarte, who chipped it right over CdM goalie Katie Schiesser from

about 15 yards out.

“One of the things was our passing game,” Mesa Coach Dan Johnston

said. “When we can control the ball with a lot of passes to build up

a shot, that’s our game. When we’re trying to bang and chase the

ball, we’re not as good as when we’re slicing and dicing and

passing.”

Duarte and Day hooked up again in the 37th minute to give the

Mustangs a 2-1 lead going in to the intermission. And, as it turned

out, the first-half goals proved to be all Mesa needed to advance its

successful early season.

Corona del Mar junior Rachel Yelsey scored the lone goal for the

Sea Kings (1-6) in the 33rd minute, taking a pass that ricocheted off

a Mesa defender and delivering it to the top right of the net.

But in the waning minutes of the game, as the Sea Kings were

trying to even it up, it appeared the gas in the CdM tank was running

low.

To avoid what happened to CdM, Johnston made frequent

substitutions. Every 10 minutes or so, a fresh batch of Mustangs

would trot onto the field.

“It’s two things,” Johnston said. “It keeps everybody fresh, but

it also gets the players experience. We’ve got 11 seniors on the team, so if I don’t get all the players in at some point, there’s no

point having them out here.”

Corona del Mar received two fresh legs for the second half. After

Middleton made her sit out the first period for missing Saturday’s

game against Martin Luther King Jr. of Riverside, junior Kelly

Morgan, the team’s Most Valuable Offensive Player last season,

started the second half.

In the closing minutes, Morgan had a couple of key plays that

almost led to CdM goals, but came up just short. In the 70th minute

she created a prime chance to even the score, taking a ball all the

way down the right wing and crossing it. But no one was there for her

pass.

Perhaps the closest CdM came to tying the game came in the 66th

minute. Junior Jessica Mazura took a free kick from about 25 yards

away, but it bounced off the top right corner of the crossbar and to

a Mesa defender.

And CdM came up just short again.

“We have two huge problems right now,” Middleton said. “One --

getting back on defense, and two -- finishing the ball. That’s what

we need to work on.”

In an attempt to be more prepared in the second half of the

season, CdM Coach Bryan Middleton purposely stacked his nonleague

schedule with powerhouses that would pose tough challenges.

Middleton, however, said Monday’s matchup against Mesa wasn’t

supposed to be one of the most challenging. CdM defeated its former

Pacific Coast League rival, 2-0, last season.

“It wasn’t the opposite team, it was us,” Middleton said. “We

definitely didn’t play to our potential. It’s going to be a long

preseason and we definitely need to work some things out with our

team. We’re not coming together like we have in the past.”

Middleton said Monday’s performance was probably the his team’s

worst this season.