Graham produces gift

COSTA MESA — It wasn’t one of those extravagant MTV affairs, complete with the requisite expensive German car and an outlandishly themed party, but Kyra Graham’s 16th birthday proved to be fulfilling anyway.

The Costa Mesa High junior forward scored a goal in the 70th minute of the Mustangs’ 2-0 nonleague win over visiting Sage Hill Monday.

Afterward, when Coach Dan Johnston was going to take Graham out and substitute one of her teammates, Graham ended up playing through the rest of the game.

“[The would-be replacement] said, ‘Let her play, Coach. It’s her birthday,’ ” Johnston said.

Some “Sweet Sixteen.”

Graham scored on a pass from senior halfback Sam Strodel, and ran straight up the middle to put the ball just past the Lightning goalkeeper.

“I just touched it forward and shot,” Graham said.

Strodel was on the right side of the pitch when she found the net eight minutes later. She doubled the lead by scoring off a cross from junior Ayla Medina.

The Mustangs (2-2-1) had chances to score in the first half, but Johnston said one of the team’s problems was finishing on scoring plays.

“We’ve had that problem all year, and we’re working on it,” Johnston said. “But the other phases of the game are coming together pretty well. Our fullback rotations looked good. We smothered them defensively.”

Costa Mesa outshot the Lightning, 17-2.

Goalkeepers Jessica Rubight and Kalea Seanoa split the shutout.

“It was kind of annoying that we kept getting chances and we weren’t scoring at all,” Graham said of the first half.

Costa Mesa won most of the battles on the outside to control the majority of the throw-ins and corner kicks, but couldn’t convert any into goals.

“We were getting them on goal, Johnston said. “We weren’t placing them very well.”

The Mustangs sped up the tempo in the second half, allowing Graham and Strodel to sneak past Lightning defenders.

“I think we just wore them down,” Johnston said. “We’d been pounding on them enough that it’s a matter of statistics at some point. You roll the ball through the goal box that often, something’s bound to get in. This is a very enthusiastic team. They’re fun to coach. They’re coming off the steep part of the learning curve now, so it’s getting better.”

Sage Hill sophomore Hannah MacLeod, an All-Newport-Mesa performer as a freshman, had five saves for the Lightning.

SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.