Hogan to rescue again

HUNTINGTON BEACH — In a key Sunset League game Wednesday at Edison High, the Newport Harbor girls’ soccer team clamped down.

The Sailors didn’t want to lose, partially because Coach Josh Brooks makes them do “suicide” drills at practice after a loss.

“That’s kind of sad, but whatever,” senior defender Emily Leece said with a laugh. “We do what we have to do.”

Freshman Gillian Hogan must hate doing the drills most of all. She helped get her team out of them, connecting on a second-half goal — her second game-winner in the past two games — to lift Newport Harbor to a 1-0 win.

The Sailors (8-8-2, 3-3 in league) came out much more fired up in the second half. In the 65th minute, they drew their fifth corner kick of the half.

The kick went in front to Hogan, who, in heavy traffic, softly kicked the ball just inside the far post.

“That ball, I don’t know if it was a mis-hit,” Brooks said. “But that’s what we call a ball that has seeing eyes. I saw legs and bodies and everything going after that ball, and it had eyes and found that side netting.”

Sophomore goalie Stephanie Castor made some big saves after that, including a heady play in the 78th minute, when she tipped the long shot of Edison’s Corie McGuire just over the net.

Castor finished with eight saves and also survived being run over by the Chargers’ Alexa Enlow in the final minute of the game. She helped Newport Harbor avenge a 1-0 loss to Edison (4-10-3, 2-4) in the teams’ first league meeting on Jan. 4.

“Every shot’s a new shot,” said Castor, who was forced to step in at goalie after senior Mary Giberson had season-ending ankle surgery earlier this month. “I just kind of go with it. I had faith in my team, it’s all them. [Mary’s] such a big supporter. She coaches me and everything, so I look up to her in a lot of ways.”

Brooks wasn’t particularly happy with the play of his team in the first half, when Edison had most of the scoring opportunities. But he credited the Sailors midfielders, Emily Ohlhaver and Hogan, for being more aggressive after halftime to set up their attack.

“We started finding the flanks, and that forced them to come out wide and meet us,” Brooks said. “That was opening up the gaps for us. The girls made a brilliant adjustment by doing that for us.”

Newport Harbor opened the second half with four consecutive corner kicks, and Arielle Rockwell and Ohlhaver almost got their headers into the goal. The Sailors had another great chance in the 49th minute. Off Ohlhaver’s cross, Hogan and senior Alex Conley crashed the ball, both getting their head on the ball but it was quickly cleared.

Conley said she doesn’t mind a physical and gritty game, which Wednesday’s game was from the beginning.

“When we first started playing, we would win games,” Conley said. “But, they would score one and we would come back and score three. Or, they would score two, and we would come back and score four. Now, we’re coming out strong.”

Senior Erica Weedn also was strong at forward and Newport Harbor’s defense, led by standouts like Carly Ruiz, Rachel Baugh, Christina O’Tousa and Phobe Cox, preserved the shutout despite playing without starter Crystal Mena.

The junior missed the game with an ankle injury.

“[Ruiz] is such a strong, tall, physical player in the back,” Brooks said. “Her game’s air-tight. She’s just a great player to watch.”

And, for Newport Harbor, it was a way to build on last week’s 2-1 victory over Los Alamitos, which was in first place at the time.

“This was just a great team effort,” Brooks said. “That’s what we’ve been begging for. Trust me, I’ve been begging for that for a while, and that’s what we got [today].”

The Sailors, with just four Sunset League games remaining, are now tied with Marina for third place behind Esperanza (4-1-1 in league) and Los Alamitos (4-2).

Newport Harbor continues Sunset League action Tuesday, when it plays at last-place Fountain Valley.