Eastbluff rolls again

Bryce Alderton

The opportunity to reach the quarterfinals of the Daily Pilot Cup’s

fifth- and sixth-grade girls Silver division fueled players such as

Eastbluff’s Hailey Senske.

Heading into Eastbluff’s game against Victoria Thursday at Costa

Mesa High, Senske, competing in her third Daily Pilot Cup, had yet to

play for a team that reached the quarterfinals with an opportunity to

win a division championship.

But Senske and Eastbluff teammates can rest assured following a

4-0 victory that clinched the pool and vaulted the team into

Saturday’s quarterfinals.

“We all played hard and wanted to win,” said Senske, who gave

Eastbluff a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the contest when she corralled a

rebound and sent it in from 16 yards out.

Amanda Stephenson sandwiched two goals around Senske’s score,

including a penalty kick after drawing a foul to put Eastbluff up,

1-0. Stephenson lofted the left-footed shot into the net as she

gently slipped to the turf.

Riley Senske, Hailey’s fraternal sister, lofted the corner kick

that Stephenson directed on one hop into the net’s right side from 20

yards out in the 15th minute to put Eastbluff ahead, 3-0.

A Victoria player accidentally booted a ball into her team’s net

for Eastbluff’s fourth goal three minutes before halftime to cap the

scoring.

Goalkeeper Taryn Greenberg helped hold Victoria scoreless in the

first half.

Eastbluff shifted players to different positions during the second

half and had a decided height advantage over Victoria, which featured

nine third- and fourth-grade players on a team of 17.

Victoria doesn’t have sixth grade. Eight fifth-graders signed up

for the team and, to avoid splitting up the players, the third- and

fourth-graders moved up a division, said Carol Wyche, an aide at the

school who rooted for the girls Thursday.

Victoria remained resilient in the second half with shots from

Veronica Garcia, Kemberly Garcia and Gabrielle Gray.

Kemberly Garcia had the best scoring chance, breaking through two

defenders and dribbling within 10 yards of the goal before firing on

Eastbluff goalkeeper Scarlett Fallon.

But Fallon, whom Eastbluff Co-Coach Phil Greenberg said measures

about 5-feet-9 reached with both hands to deflect the ball, which

then lightly bounced twice off the crossbar prior to falling to the

turf.

Minutes later, Gray swerved around a defender and sent in a

point-blank shot that Fallon corralled.

Eastbluff (2-0) fired nine of its 11 shots in the first half, as

Kelsey Johnston and Peyton Wolonsky kept pressure along the front

lines.

Greenberg said height is a factor at the “higher levels” of soccer

and added that the length of a player’s legs provides a further

advantage.

“They are definitely faster because they are so much bigger,”

Greenberg said. “Victoria showed so much heart.”

First-year Victoria Coach Jane Wyche shouted instructions to her

players to form a wall at the top of the 18-yard box for an Eastbluff

free kick five minutes into the second half. The strategy paid

dividends as the shot sailed over the net.

Defender Alex Dickens turned several balls back up field for

Eastbluff.

Sarah Ray played the entire game in goal for Victoria, recording

two saves.

Eastbluff will face the second-place team from pool A, which

included Kaiser B, Carden Hall B and Mariners B, in the quarterfinals

at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Farm Sports Complex field No. 2.

Victoria continues on with a 4 p.m. contest today at Costa Mesa

High against the third-place team of pool A.