Estancia rumbles to trophy

PLACENTIA — Before their tournament title match began, the players from the Estancia High girls’ soccer team huddled in front of their bench.

They drew in close to each other as senior Cori Chapin yelled, “Are you ready to rumble?” The Estancia girls, bouncing, shouted back in unison, “Yes!”

Then they went out and showed it. The Eagles used a strong defense to win the North County Challenge Gold Division championship with a 1-0 victory over Valencia at Valencia High Monday night.

Sophomore Jackie Freiberger headed in a well-placed corner kick from junior Nushin Tasbihchi in the 22nd minute for the game-winner.

Estancia junior goalie Ally Wallace didn’t deliver any blows, but her nine saves and shutout actually proved to be the knockout the Eagles (6-7-1) needed.

One of her greatest saves of the night came in the 10th minute of the second half, when Valencia sophomore Rachel Jimenez sped out in front on a breakaway toward Wallace.

Jimenez fired a shot from about 15 yards out, but Wallace jumped to the right corner of the net to slap the ball away and out of bounds.

“I haven’t had a shutout in a while so that’s what I wanted,” said Wallace, a team captain who last had a shutout Dec. 4 when the Eagles beat Century, 5-0. This shutout came in a 70-minute match, rather than the standard 80-minute contest, but it was still noteworthy to say the least.

“At the beginning of the game, I was pretty nervous,” Wallace said. “But in the second half, I was fine. I wasn’t afraid. My defense was playing real well. I knew they would be there to support me.”

They certainly were, especially Chapin, senior Jenna Tanner and Tasbihchi.

Chapin, the Eagles’ sweeper, continually cleared out most attacks from Valencia (3-8-1).

Tasbihchi moved from center midfielder to stopper when the tournament began against Huntington Beach on Tuesday. The position shift helped the Eagles reel off four straight wins to take home the tournament trophy in the eight-team division.

“It turned out to be the best decision we’ve made so far,” said Jessica Gatica, Estancia’s first-year coach.

Before Tasbihchi moved to stopper, Estancia had lost seven of its past eight and four in a row. The four-game skid was something not common for Gatica, who had been working as an assistant for the past five years at Mater Dei, under Matty West, the former Newport Harbor girls’ coach.

Gatica was part of her alma mater’s team that won the CIF Southern Section Division I title in the 2006-07 season.

“It was new and it was a transition for all of us,” Gatica said of Estancia’s losses. “The girls were getting used to how I react to losing. It was something they were not happy about and something they were all determined to overcome together.”

While Tasbihchi’s move to stopper has helped with the winning, the play of freshman forward Heather Flores has given the Eagles a strong threat on offense.

Flores scored four goals during Estancia’s four-game winning streak, including two in the Eagles’ 3-1 triumph against Savanna earlier Monday. She has a team-best seven goals.

Freiberger scored a goal against Savanna and Wallace recorded seven saves.

Flores also contributed to the Eagles’ goal against Valencia. Her through ball gave Freiberger a shot at the goal that Tigers keeper Alysha Donnell hit out of bounds for one of her seven saves.

That set up Tasbihchi’s corner kick.

“I just headed it in,” said Freiberger, who has six goals this season. “I know how Nush kicks, so I just got into position. I headed it down and is just bounced back up over the goalie.”

The Eagles’ winning streak and tournament championship came at an opportune time, as their next game is the Orange Coast League opener against rival Costa Mesa at Estancia Jan. 8 at 4:45 p.m.

“Now that we won, it’s boosted our confidence going into league,” Tasbihchi said.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.