Brooke Smith
Online Editor
Mira Costa girls soccer made history becoming the first time ever CIF champions in their final game against Oak Hills High School, 5-1 on Saturday, February 29.
The Mustangs had a strong start gaining a lead with help from sophomore, Ellie Weisenberg and senior, Grace Watkins. The girls always maintained a lead in the score, reflecting their strong offense. The Mustangs continued to score goals while goalie, Ashley Naylor continued to save them resulting in their win, 5-1.
“It took a team effort and every single person contributed to winning the championship on Saturday,” Watkins said.
At the beginning of the first half, the game started with a powerful offense from Costa to gain the lead. Weisenberg scored the first goal of the game off a header from a corner kick by Watkins. Oak Hills struggled to respond with a goal.
“From the start of the game we quickly figured out what we needed to do in order to break down the other team’s defense and midfield, to get balls through to our wide players,” Weisenberg said.
During the rest of the first half Watkins managed to put another ball in the net, adding to their lead. The Mustangs played strong defense until the very end of the half, letting a ball slip in by Oak Hills, leaving the score close for the second half, 2-1.
“At the end of the first half, we were a little bit down,” senior, Ashley Stepczyk said. “We had just conceded a goal, but were still winning however we knew we should be up by 4.”
At the beginning of the second half, the Mustangs did not waste time to put another goal away. Weisenberg made her second goal of the game. As offense persisted, Ray kept on her toes taking away a couple of Oak Hill’s chances to score a goal. At this point in the game Costa was up, 3-1.
“As soon as we came out onto the field to start the second half, we were so fired up because we knew we were good enough to punish this team,” Stepczyk said.
During the final part of the game it became obvious who the champions were. Stepczyk rebounded a loose ball and put it in the back of the net adding another point to the scoreboard. Sierra Sargent scored the final goal of the game ending, 5-1 and leaving them champions.
“I was so happy and proud when the game ended,” Watkins said. “The fact that we had 5 goals and 4 different people who scored them was amazing.”
The Mustangs are scheduled to play against Santiago High School at their field on Tuesday, March 3 in the first round of The Regional Championships. Their current record is 24-2.
“After getting 2nd in CIF last year, we knew what it felt like to lose in the championship game and we did not want to feel like that again,” Ray said.
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