Returning with win

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COSTA MESA — Killybrooke Elementary School hasn’t exactly been a fixture in the Daily Pilot Cup in recent years.

It’s actually the opposite. The Costa Mesa school hasn’t fielded teams at the tournament since 2004.

But onlookers at Wednesday afternoon’s girls’ fifth- and sixth-grade Silver Division game likely couldn’t tell the difference. Killybrooke used goals by Brenda Menes and Jayme Krohnfeldt in the final 10 minutes to escape with a 2-0 victory over Mariners B at Costa Mesa High.

Krohnfeldt and defender Amanda Moore, both sixth graders, are two of the more experienced players on Killybrooke. They have played together on AYSO Region 120 Advanced Play Program teams, but this is their first time getting a chance to represent their school at the Pilot Cup, which is in its ninth year.

“We were really excited,” said Moore after her team’s win Wednesday.

She proved it, staying at the Farm Complex and Costa Mesa High fields for much of the day to cheer on Killybrooke’s teams competing in other divisions.

“We don’t have many after-school sports at Killybrooke, so it’s good for girls to try new things,” Moore said. “...A lot of the girls on our team are first-time players.”

Even the coaches for the Killybrooke squad are young, in Costa Mesa High freshmen Shaylen McNulty, Sami Feinstein and Jayme’s older sister, Alex Krohnfeldt. They all got involved with coaching the team since they all play club soccer as well.

The coaching trio had to like what they saw in the team’s first Pilot Cup game, though.

Killybrooke started off the game aggressively, with big shots on goal by Elaine Moya and Carly Dixon. Later in the first half, however, the momentum seemed to swing to Mariners. The team coached by Alesia Erickson used an offside trap, with defenders Molly McCunniff, Michelle Dunchus and Hailey Mahaffey moving up the field to twice catch Killybrooke players offside.

Jenna Lincoln got off a couple of hard shots for Mariners, which also benefited from Emma Erickson’s free kicks and throw-ins. Killybrooke, however, kept battling. The school whose mascot is the four-leaf clover would eventually hit the jackpot.

Menes scored the team’s first goal 16 minutes into the second half, dribbling into the box and scoring after a powerful pass upfield by teammate Alexa Loredo.

Three minutes later, Krohnfeldt got in on the action. She scored from the right side, lofting the ball back into the left corner. Perla Del Bosque nearly added another goal in the closing minutes.

“It was a team effort,” Jayme Krohnfeldt said. “We had to work together to get those goals.”

Menes also played goal for Killybrooke, while Katya Farinsky (three saves) and Dunchus (four saves) took turns in the Mariners net.

Killybrooke (1-0) will play Rea B (1-0) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Costa Mesa Farm Complex, field No. 2 in both teams’ final pool-play game. The winner of that game wins Pool C, but both teams have already clinched spots in the girls’ fifth-and sixth-grade Silver Division quarterfinals on Saturday. Two out of the three Pool C teams advance to the quarterfinals, and Mariners (0-2) has been eliminated.

Until then, Moore will probably be busy rooting for Killybrooke even more. The school has four teams entered into the Pilot Cup.

“It’s fun,” she said. “We’ve been encouraging Killybrooke to do their best, all the teams that played.”