Girls’ Soccer: Eagles shut out Mesa again
While the Battle for the Bell girls’ soccer rivalry featured two new coaches on Thursday, the same high school team keeps winning.
Estancia continued to dominate Costa Mesa, posting a 3-0 shutout at Jim Scott Stadium. The victory marked the Eagles’ ninth straight against the Mustangs.
During the winning streak, the Eagles haven’t allowed a goal to Costa Mesa. They have blanked the Mustangs in the past 720 minutes, that’s 12 hours.
The last time Costa Mesa scored a goal on Estancia was on Feb. 10, 2011, when the Mustangs found the back of the net in the 39th minute. The match ended in a 1-1 tie.
Since then, it has been all Estancia, which has outscored the Mustangs, 28-0, in the last nine meetings.
“I thought the energy was great,” Estancia Coach Josh Juarez said of the first of two matches with archrival Costa Mesa. “Both teams came out fired up. There was no lack of effort in this game by both teams.
“I know that they have a new coach and I’m new a coach to the group, and we’re going to start to be a part of this rivalry also. But I know the coach, [Jon Crowley], over there and I know he’s doing a good job with his team over there. I know the second time we play them [on Feb. 4] it’s going to be much tougher.”
The defending Orange Coast League champion Eagles remained unbeaten in league, improving to 2-0-1. Juarez’s Eagles (8-4-3 overall), ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 poll, have a big date at No. 9 Laguna Beach on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Laguna Beach is atop the league at 3-0-0, ahead of Estancia and Calvary Chapel, the two programs that shared first last season.
Estancia and Laguna Beach split the two-match series last season, and the Breakers finished in third, one point out of first. The contest will mark Estancia’s second toughest in 13 days.
Thursday’s match turned out to be an easy one for Estancia.
It took the visitors some time to create scoring chances. The first two came on acrobatic throw-ins by Lexina McDowell that goalkeeper Hayley Wolf got her gloves on in the box at the 11th- and 19th-minute marks.
Then Annalysa Cowie and Delani Guyot had opportunities for Estancia, Cowie from outside the box in the 25th minute, and Guyot on a header near the top of the box in the 29th minute.
Two minutes later, Estancia struck first. Isabelle Cruz beat a defender and dribbled into the box, before unleashing a shot to put Estancia up in the 31st minute.
Costa Mesa never threatened keeper Annie Mitchell. The back line of Brandi White, McDowell, Elizabeth Esquivel and Samantha Haynes stopped the Mustangs.
The Mustangs couldn’t slow down the Eagles, though.
Two minutes into the second half, Estancia scored again. This time one of McDowell’s throw-ins worked.
The sophomore performed a front flip from the Estancia touchline, launching the ball deep into the box. Guyot was there to knock in the ball with her head.
Guyot added a second goal in the 60th minute, after a free kick from White. The deficit proved to be too much for Costa Mesa (2-12-0, 0-3-0 in league) to overcome. The Mustangs suffered their eighth consecutive setback. In the last three losses, all in league, they have failed to score.
“It’s a combination of youth, inexperience and number of … higher-trained players,” Crowley said were the reasons behind his team’s struggles this season. “Where most of our opponents are dealing with a squad of 16 to 18 [players], we’re playing with 13 players right now, two [are] injured [in starting keeper Emma Warner, who is dealing with a concussion, and starting defender Sarah Javier, who is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury].
“Our numbers are limited. Toward the end of the game, it starts to show a little bit and we break down.”
