A controversial ouster

COSTA MESA — Inevitably it was the way the ball bounced that proved deleterious to the Costa Mesa High girls’ soccer team Thursday afternoon.

But the speed with which it caromed off a Cypress attacker, back onto her body, then her feet as she bypassed a challenging defender, might have had more to do with the Mustangs’ 2-1 overtime loss in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs at Estancia High.

The rapid-fire ricochet, which Costa Mesa Coach Dan Johnston — and the Mustangs defender directly in front of Cypress senior Emily Mizarhi — said struck Mizarhi’s hand or arm, making it an illegal hand ball, went undetected by the referee. It also led to the game-winning goal for the Centurions (10-8-2), who earned their first playoff victory since 2001.

After receiving the benefit of a ball Johnston said videotape of the play later revealed Mizarhi batted forward with her mid-forearm after the ball went off defender Kristina Roche’s foot, then came up and bounced of Mizarhi’s chest, Mizarhi fired a shot that bounced off the right goalpost.

The rebound caromed back toward the center of the 18-yard box, where senior Kyley Rouse booted it into the net to end the season for the Mustangs (10-7-7).

“An uncalled hand ball is a heck of a way to go out of CIF,” said Johnston, whose team, which earned a share of its seventh straight league title by finishing tied with rival Estancia atop the Orange Coast League standings, was eliminated in the first round for the second time in the last three seasons. “But that’s the way the ball bounces. We outplayed them and carried the action to them the whole game.

Johnston said after reviewing the aforementioned video footage of the winning goal, that Cypress could also have been called for offsides on the play.

“There was a [Cypress] girl in offsides position who made a play on the rebound [though she failed to make contact with the ball, before Rouse converted],” Johnston said. “The play should have been stopped right there.”

Johnston said the Centurion who was offsides drew a defender to her, though she did not contact the ball, freeing up space for Rouse, who appeared to be within three yards of the nearest defender, when she connected on the winning shot.

“Give [the Centurions] credit,” Johnston said. “They kept humping it in there. But they got away with one. It was a freebie goal. It shouldn’t have stood on two counts.”

Roche said from her vantage point, the ball did hit off either the hand or arm of Mizarhi, who will continue her career at the University of North Dakota.

Costa Mesa forced overtime by erasing a 1-0 first-half deficit in the 48th minute.

Senior Dana Gentling punched a through ball from midfield, toward streaking junior forward Natalie Argueta.

Argueta received the ball about 35 yards out in the center of the field, having sprinted past the last Cypress defender. She calmly carried the ball toward the goalie, before driving a shot past her and into the net.

“That was sweet,” Johnston said of Argueta’s goal. “She controlled it, drew the goalie out, juked her, then put the ball in the net. It was a sweet shot.”

The early postseason exit, however, proved to be a bitter ending to yet another championship season for the Mustangs.

“It’s too bad it ended like this, but I’m proud of what we’ve done,” said Roche, one of three senior captains, along with Gentling and forward Ayla Medina.

Johnston said fatigue may have been a factor down the stretch for Costa Mesa, which, he said, featured several players either battling injuries or illness.

The Mustangs were also without senior defender Cheyenne Lopez, who watched the game from the stands after injuring her right knee in the regular-season finale.

“I think we probably did lose a little steam, but we didn’t give up at all,” Roche said. “We worked through [the fatigue] for sure.

“Losing [Lopez] was a big loss in the middle, but the people who needed to step up, stepped up.”

Cypress avenged a 2-0 tournament loss to Costa Mesa in late December.

“It’s hard to beat a team twice, because they know what you bring to the party [the second time],” Johnston said. “Cypress is a good, solid team and they are on the upswing. They beat Pacifica in their last regular-season game.”

Roche said the Centurions’ win over highly regarded Pacifica insured the Mustangs would not overlook the Empire League’s third-place team.

“Pacifica killed us [actually a 2-1 loss on Dec. 18], so I don’t think we looked past [Cypress] at all,” Roche said. “We knew it was going to be a good game.”

Costa Mesa seniors Gentling, Medina, Jessica Rubright, Bree Arellano, Breana Dorame, Kaela Feinstein, Teresa Fox, Teagan LeBare, Cori Patelski, and Brooke Urmson completed their high school careers.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.