Huntington Beach can’t repeat as champs

Cathy Van Doornum knew it would be tough for the Huntington Beach High girls’ field hockey team to repeat as the Southern California field hockey champions.

Yet despite being a marked team coming off last year’s title, the Oilers nearly pulled off a repeat feat on Nov. 6.

Huntington, which won the regular season Sunset League championship, took on league rival Newport Harbor in the playoffs final at Edison High. The teams were tied at 1 at the end of regulation and through overtime, but Newport Harbor, which finished second in league play, scored once in a penalty strokes session that allowed the Sailors to emerge with a 2-1 victory.

The Oilers concluded their season with a record of 19-4-5 overall.

“It was a tough one to lose but overall, given that we won league and this tournament last year, we knew we’d have to play above that level in order to repeat this year,” said Van Doornum, who along with Mindi Masters coaches the Oilers.

“But the girls rose to the challenge and were up for each match every time. We just fell a little short. We played as well as we could and give Newport credit for holding us to one goal. We had been averaging four or five goals a game.”

Huntington senior Colleen Ryan was named co-MVP of the tournament and teammates Stephanie Moss and Claire Prestridge were voted to the all-tournament team.

The Oilers’ road to the tournament final included wins over Bonita (4-0) and in overtime over Glendora (2-1).

The 2008 Oilers are: Maelen Lockhart, Lina Truong, Colleen Ryan, Claire Prestridge, Ashlyn Pooler, Julia Fujuwara, Stephanie Walters, Lindsay Sebastian, Brittany Hazard, Taryn Rescigno, Meagan Good, Stephanie Moss, Jessica Van Arsdale, Jordan Mulholland, Liz Tornheim and Chelsea Finamore.