Girls’ Soccer: Ocean View still perfect
Ocean View High junior girls’ soccer player Micayla Shook is affectionately called “chicken wing” out on the pitch.
Shook shattered her left arm a few years ago, and can’t straighten it. People say it looks like, you guessed it, a chicken wing.
There was nothing chicken about the Seahawks’ preseason schedule this season. Ocean View, a CIF Southern Section Division 4 team, played against mostly Division 1 and 2 teams, entering the prestigious Excalibur Tournament for the first time. The Seahawks had just a 2-10-1 record as Golden West League play began.
“Going into it, we knew it was going to be an extremely hard preseason,” Ocean View Coach Jose Sanchez said. “I told the girls, ‘We might lose every single preseason game, but that’s fine.’ As long we worked on what we wanted to do, then coming into league it was going to be more comfortable, and it has been.”
The Golden West League has meant winning time the past three years for the Seahawks, and that didn’t change during Thursday’s home league game against Loara.
With four games remaining, Ocean View stayed perfect in league. The Seahawks moved closer to their third straight title after the 2-1 victory, improving to 6-0 in league this season.
The three team captains, Shook, senior forward Kaci Montoya and senior defender Daisy Moran all had a part in the Seahawks’ scoring. In the 12th minute, Moran played the ball up to Montoya. The Loara keeper charged, but Montoya was able to score into the left corner.
From there, the Seahawks dominated chances but couldn’t find the back of the net again. Sanchez got frustrated watching the chances come and go. Late in the first half, freshman Emily Cabrera and sophomore Analisa Chavez had successive chances in the box, but their shots were blocked.
“The girls kind of went down to their level,” Sanchez said. “They’re normally great making combination plays and switching the ball, and today was kind of sloppy ... I feel that they tried to score so fast that it got sloppy.”
But Montoya wasn’t sloppy in the 57th minute, after Shook crossed her the ball from the right. Her second touch in the box put the ball in the back of the net, an insurance goal and Montoya’s team-best 10th of the season. Montoya and Shook have a special connection, as they play club soccer together on Pateadores Huntington Beach.
The Seahawks have not lost a Golden West League game in the three-year run, going 9-0-1 in league the last two seasons. On Thursday, it turned out that they would need the insurance goal, as Loara (5-8, 2-4 in league) struck late.
Sindy Villa scored on a counterattack with just two minutes left. Villa did a celebratory dance with her teammate Dayana Cardenas, before yelling out to her teammates.
“It’s not over,” Villa said.
But two minutes later, it was, and Ocean View had yet another win. Sophomore keeper Jasmine Rocha (five saves) anchored a defense that also was led by senior Lauren Reynolds and sophomores Nancy Cabrera and Esmeralda Sotelo.
Rocha is a first-year varsity player but has stepped up to the challenge of starting goalie.
“I think preseason helped her come out of her comfort zone,” Shook said. “Coming in as a sophomore, her first year on varsity, you’re not going to be the one trying to initiate everything, trying to yell at defenders that have been there for four years. Once we kind of broke her out of that shell, you hear her the whole game, yelling at her line.”
The Seahawks had reason to yell after the final whistle, but it was in celebration. Still, they believe they can play better. And they do have a tough week next week, playing at Santa Ana on Tuesday and at rival Westminster on Thursday.
Five of Ocean View’s six league wins have come by a single goal, but the Seahawks will take it.
“We have things we can improve on, but the win is definitely a great thing,” Montoya said. “I’m ecstatic to go 6-0 so far.”
