Werblin sparks Sage Hill

Bryce Alderton

Girls soccer coaches from Sage Hill School and Estancia High circled

Wednesday’s nonleague game on their calendars, eagerly anticipating a

battle of wits and strategy as much as the show of skills displayed

by their players.

You see, Estancia Coach Jennifer Hutcheon and assistant Nadine

Rajabi, along with Sage Hill Coach Amy Ray and assistant Amy

Wetherbee, all play on the same semi-professional club team that

practices at Estancia High. They were treated to a defensive struggle

as the host Lightning made a first-half goal stand up to earn a 1-0

victory on a crisp afternoon.

Sharp passing led to the game’s only goal when Sage Hill senior

forward Megan Curry’s pass found the foot of Amy Werblin and the

junior belted the ball from 15 yards out into the upper-right portion

of the net in the 16th minute, deflected off the fingertips of

Estancia goalkeeper Marci Kirchberg. The junior keeper made seven

saves and countless times ran out to either deflect a centering pass

or to challenge an onrushing opponent.

“Marci came up with some huge saves,” Rajabi said. “If we would

have played the first half like we did the second half ... . Sage

came out strong and we didn’t get in a groove the whole first half.”

The Lightning (2-2) fired eight of their 14 shots in the first

half while the defense of Emily Webb and Caroline Sauter, among

others, held the Eagles (1-2) to just two shots.

“In the first half we put passes together ... we really wanted to

win this game,” Ray said. “Going in I was concerned with keeping a

positive attitude and playing aggressively because I knew Estancia

was a very physical team.”

Sage Hill forwards Sara Becker, Ali McLaughlin and Kara Percival

moved the ball into the Estancia zone, but were met by gritty

defenders such as junior Sandra Lopez, freshman Bridget Gleason and

sophomore sweeper Marina “Coco” Abdul, who sat out a majority of the

first half with an ankle she injured within the first 10 minutes.

Abdul, whose freshman sister, Nazmy Abdul, played forward for

Estancia, came back in the second half, when the Eagles increased the

pressure.

With Marina Abdul out for much of the first half, Sage Hill was

able to control the offensive end, Ray said, but that changed in the

final 20 minutes.

Estancia fired five shots on Sage goalkeeper Laura Gordon, a

first-team All-Academy League selection a year ago, in the second

half. Gordon made four total saves

Junior midfielder Elise Carroll, along with forwards Nazmy Abdul,

Haley Rosner and Rachel McMasters, all fired shots, but the defense

provided by Kelsey Rose, Grace Graham and Kendra Bostwick deterred

several scoring attempts.

“[Estancia’s] center midfielders controlled the field more in the

second half and we had a lot of mis-hits -- shanks,” Ray said. “We

haven’t practiced finishing that much.”

Rajabi praised sophomore midfielder Lauren Cushing and Jacqueline

Johnston, who moved from stopper to forward in the second half, for

their efforts.

Hutcheon, Rajabi, Ray and Wetherbee compete for Mohammad Khakpour

Soccer Club. Khakpour is a Newport Beach resident and member of the

Iranian national soccer team that won a gold medal at the 1998 Asian

Olympics.