Andersen wins title

Steve Virgen

Before an improbable victory over Kaiser Elementary, the Andersen

third- and fourth-grade girls soccer team practiced penalty kicks at

the Costa Mesa Farm Sports Complex Sunday.

Little did the Dolphins know that the practice would definitely be

necessary.

The Andersen Dolphins defeated Kaiser, 3-1, in a penalty-kick

shootout to win their third straight championship on the third- and

fourth-grade level, this time in the new gold division of the Daily

Pilot Cup. Sydney Raguse scored the game-winning penalty kick on

Andersen’s fourth attempt of a best-of-five shootout.

Raguse caught the right corner and immediately raised her hands in

celebration as the ball went into the net. Her teammates jumped and

yelled around her. Then, after the congratulatory handshakes,

Andersen coaches Claudio Venturini and Jeff Bethel gathered the

players for a postgame speech.

“Does it feel good?” Venturini asked.

“Yeah,” the players answered.

Kaiser’s Courtney McIntosh scored first in the shootout. Alison

Ridge answered with a goal for Andersen. Then the Knights missed wide

right on their next attempt. Katie Bethel fired a shot to the left

corner for a 2-1 Dolphins lead.

Kaiser missed, as did Andersen on the teams’ third attempt. Then

the Knights missed wide right before Raguse put the game away and

capped a stunning victory.

Andersen, down, 1-0, at halftime, scored on its only shot of the

game, seven minutes into the second half. It was the second straight

victory determined by penalty kicks for the Dolphins, who won, 2-0,

after a 1-1 tie in regulation, in their semifinal game against Harbor

Day earlier Sunday.

In the championship game, Andersen’s Annie Alvarado scored on

assist from Mary McKennon to tie the score, 1-1. The goal came after

a quick counter from a Kaiser goalie punt. The teams battled to the

end of regulation, with Kaiser dominating the game, but not putting

away its chances.

The Knights outshot Andersen, 11-0, in the first half, 14-1, for

the game. Josie Jogwe, a left-footed player, scored on an assist from

Jill Messersmith, in the eighth minute of the 25-minute first half.

Messersmith crossed to Jogwe, who settled the ball about 10 yards

out from the net. Jogwe saw an opening to her right and quickly fired

the ball into the net. Kaiser continued to attack, but either the

Knights missed or goalies Linsday Susolik or Pippa Saunders were

there to stuff shots.

“The score would have been 35-7 if this was football,” said Kaiser

Coach Kirk McIntosh, who was also the Pilot Cup’s tournament

director. “We clearly dominated that game. But we didn’t put it away.

They hung around and beat us in the shootout. That’s soccer.”

Kaiser defeated Carden Hall, 5-2, in the semifinal earlier Sunday.

Courtney McIntosh scored two goals, while Miranda McFarland, Shanay

Fischer and Jogwe added one goal each.

In Andersen’s semifinal victory, Monica Venturini scored early in

the second half to break a scoreless tie. But Harbor Day answered

midway through the second half, and that eventually sent the game

into the penalty-kick shootout. There is no overtime in the Pilot

Cup.

Raguse and McKennon scored one goal each, while Saunders made one

save in the shootout.

“They were poised when it came down to it,” Claudio Venturini

said. “They were focused and did the things they had to do to win.

Kaiser was dominating the game. But we did enough. We had a few girls

who were cool and collected and they were ready.”