Andersen dynastic

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COSTA MESA — Carden Hall started off the game nearly scoring a goal, but it was Andersen who notched a 2-0 victory at Friday’s fifth- and sixth-grade girls’ gold division game at the Costa Mesa Farm Complex.

The Dolphins are no strangers to winning at the Daly Pilot Cup. They’re vying for their third straight title in the gold division. Some of the girls on the team played on last year’s Andersen squad that won the championship for a seventh straight time in the girls’ third- and fourth-grade gold division.

With the win Friday, Andersen won its pool and advanced to the quarterfinals today at 11 a.m.

Both of Andersen’s goals came in the first half. Katie Craig scored the first and Brynn Motal scored on what head coach Jeff Bethel called “a beautiful bender.”

“They challenged us a lot in the second half,” Bethel said. “They had a good chance of scoring three goals in the second half but we overcame it.”

One of the scoring chances Bethel talked about was Carden Hall’s penalty kick. However, Carden Hall could not get through Andersen’s goalkeeper Maddie Musselman for the entire game. Musselman had three saves in the contest.

“We had a really strong second-half performance,” Carden Hall Coach Evelyn Yaeger said. “We started out a little slow and we got behind but we had some great opportunities. I feel like we dominated the second half. We just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.”

Another key performer for Andersen was its sweeper Tory English. Bethel said she shut down Carden Hall’s attack and anchored its defense throughout the game.

“Maddie had a good game at forward, our goalie ]Katherine Perry] made some great saves and Sammie Yeager had a strong game in the midfield,” Evelyn Yaeger said of Carden Hall’s key players. “We’re looking forward to [today] and taking advantage of our opportunities.”

A player from each team suffered an injury in the contest, but both players were not dealt major injuries. Carden Hall’s Maddie Kernan was injured in the first half but was OK and came back to play.

Andersen’s Caroline Bethel on the other hand did not come back from her second-half injury.

Jeff Bethel said four of the girls on Andersen are on the same club team as some of the players on Carden Hall. He added the Daily Pilot Cup is a great experience for the girls who get to experience rivalry among schoolmates, friends and teammates.

“The girls (normally) play on so many different club and AYSO teams,” Jeff Bethel said. “I think it’s been my sixth year coaching and it’s just been a lot of fun.”