Mustangs 35-0 in Golden West

Chris Yemma

Some say it’s the demographics and others say it’s the tradition, but

regardless of what people think, the dominance is still present.

The Costa Mesa High girls soccer team just about owns the Golden

West League, with not one loss in it since entering almost three full

seasons ago. That’s 35 straight league wins to zero losses.

League opponents have all sorts of theories to why the Mustangs

have such a grasp on the league, but one thing is for certain: it

boils down to the basics with Costa Mesa.

After a 6-1 routing of host Orange Tuesday, the Mustangs wrapped

up their third consecutive league title, and barring a loss to

Estancia Thursday, in undefeated fashion.

“It’s all about team coordination,” Costa Mesa Coach Dan Johnston

said. “Our passing game is what we work on the most. We have good

individual players, but we coordinate them all together.”

In his 13th season as the Mustangs’ coach, Johnston has shuffled

through many teams, but the one he has this year might sit near the

top. Of course, to qualify as one of his very best, a CIF Southern

Section Division III title would probably need to be in the works.

Prior to a second-round loss to Norco in the CIF playoffs last

season, Costa Mesa (16-2, 11-0 in league) had shared a CIF crown and

earned an individual one in the previous two seasons. If the Mustangs

win this year, that would be three out of four years.

And after all the major media organizations labeled a certain team

from New England a dynasty after three out of four championships,

couldn’t the same case be made for a local high school team?

But Mesa has to win this season’s title first.

“If Costa Mesa plays as well as they can play, they are going to

be very hard to beat [in CIF],” Orange Coach Mitchell Ryan said. “I

think they have a good shot this year.”

The Mustangs, ranked No. 3 in Division III, would appear to have

swept up all the girls soccer talent in Costa Mesa after controlling

the league for three years, but there is another school that feeds

from the same pool.

But Estancia has gone through numerous coaching changes in the

last few years, while Costa Mesa has had Johnston as a fixture to

build and finesse the team.

“I don’t know why Estancia’s not better,” Ryan said. “I guess at

Mesa, you’ve got the tradition and you’ve got very good coaching.

It’s all established.”

Indeed, what it could very well come down to, is the coaching.

Johnston’s coaching strategy involves utilizing the whole team. From

constant substitutions, to precision passing and ball control,

Johnston has focused Mesa on the idea of the team concept. And the

concept is evident when the Mustangs take the field.

“We have some excellent players that’ll stack up with anybody, but

the team coordination makes the difference,” Johnston said. “The team

play allows us to shine.”

Once again, in Tuesday’s win over Orange, the team play was

present. Four different players scored for the Mustangs, including

Jasmin Day (3), Nilani Duarte, Caitlin Duffy and Rachel Ronquillo,

while numerous assists were dished.

And, of course, Johnston went deep down the bench and subbed in a

multitude of players.

“I was very impressed with the depth of their team,” Ryan said.