Dolphins shoot for four-peat

Barry Faulkner

After a morning scare in the Gold division quarterfinals, the

Andersen third- and fourth-grade girls soccer team returned to form

Saturday afternoon in the Daily Pilot Cup at the Costa Mesa Farm

Sports Complex.

The Dolphins, aiming to win the division for the fourth straight

year, dominated Our Lady Queen of Angels, 5-0, in one semifinal to

advance to today’s 1 p.m. championship game against Lincoln.

Lincoln defeated Kaiser, 2-0, in the other semifinal Saturday.

The 5-0 verdict increased Andersen’s goal margin to 27-2 in five

tournament games this year. But both opponents’ goals were posted by

Newport Heights in a hard-fought 3-2 quarterfinal win for the

Dolphins Saturday morning.

“We started really sluggishly,” Andersen Coach Claudio Venturini

said. “In the quarterfinals this morning, we just weren’t connecting.

We struggled to widen out the field, which is our game.”

The Dolphins, however, found their comfort zone after a brief,

tenuous start against Our Lady Queen of Angels.

Annie Alvarado opened the scoring for the Dolphins in the ninth

minute, taking a pass from Chloe Dapp and booming a left-footed shot

into the net.

Monica Venturini scored on a free kick eight minutes later,

rocketing a drive from just outside the 18-yard box into the upper

portion of the net, over a helpless goalkeeper.

Makena Look upped the lead to 3-0, converting an Alvarado assist

with a left-footer that rolled in after making contact with the

goalie.

Alvarado, Venturini, Dapp, Look and Kensi Conti carried the pace

offensively for the winners, who used three goalkeepers to preserve

the shutout.

Twin sisters Genevieve and Erica Weed played most of the game in

goal, before Alvarado donned the gloves for the final few moments.

Genevieve Weed, who played the entire first half, made a handful

of strong plays, often displaying fearless aggression in coming out

to scoop up the ball against oncoming attackers.

Courtney Brown, Madison Haley, Heather Johnson, Nikki Muelhauser,

Kelsey Schmidt and Kelsey Humphries rounded out the Andersen roster.

Schmidt scored one goal in the quarterfinal triumph, in which

Venturini scored a pair.

Venturini added a second goal to finalize the scoring against Our

Lady Queen of Angels, after Alvarado finished a nifty run of her own

with a right-footed shot that found the net to make it 4-0.

Coach Mike Lopez had nothing but praise for his Angels, who were

led by Caroline Strom, Shannon Griffin and Taylor Rule.

August Touchard contributed tenacious defense for the Angels, who

defeated Newport Elementary on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals

Saturday morning.

Our Lady Queen of Angels and Newport were tied, 1-1, at the end of regulation.

The first round of five penalty kicks by each team ended in a 4-4

deadlock, before the Angels won in sudden-death penalty kicks to

advance.

Against Andersen, Perez elected to take the wind at his team’s

back for the first half, hoping to get a quick goal that could fuel

hopes for an upset.

“That was the plan, and we had our chances,” Perez said. “But it

just didn’t work out like I hoped it would.”

Strom had the first two shots of the game, the second of which

caromed off the shins of Genevieve Weed.

Our Lady Queen of Angels, in fact, controlled play early as

Claudio Venturini’s pleas to his team to increase its intensity met

no measurable response.

But Alvarado and Monica Venturini operating primarily in the

middle, helped create for their teammates and frustrate defenders

with deft ball-handling skills. Their efforts helped generate some

offensive flow for the Dolphins.

Shelby Perez, Regan O’Hara, Sara Vale, Janine Dandan, Taylor Wolf,

Yasmeen Dandan and Rachel Howes also contributed for the Angels.

“We just didn’t have the horses they had,” Perez said of Our Lady

Queen of Angels, which won Pool D. “But we had a lot of fun and I’m

very pleased with the way the girls played. They gave me great

effort.”

Claudio Venturini said effort was the key for his collection of

skilled players.

“We have the talent,” he said. “Once we got going, it was smooth.

Our girls know how to play.”