Eagles top field yet again

Rick Devereux

For the third straight year, the Carden Hall girls fifth- and

sixth-grade soccer team won the Gold division of the Daily Pilot Cup,

beating Mariners Elementary, 2-0, Sunday at the Costa Mesa Farm

Sports Complex.

The dominance the Eagles have exhibited since 2003 might have

inflated the egos of some teams, but Barb Yeager, who was the Carden

Hall coach for the first two championships and assisted head man

Barry Zimmermann this season, stressed that she has always wanted

players to show good sportsmanship during their title runs.

“I want the girls playing fair and strong,” she said.

The Eagles played strong in the championship match and, due in

part to a decided size advantage, controlled much of the action.

Sixth graders Tori Browne, Alison Gordon and Tabitha Goff used their

height advantage to shield the ball from Mariners players and sustain

a relentless attack that yielded 19 shots on goal.

“They’ve got big girls out there who are also very fast,” Mariners

Coach Dave Wooters said. “We have a small team, but we played with a

lot of heart.”

Both teams advanced to the final with hard-fought semifinal

matches earlier in the day.

Mariners tied Andersen, 1-1, and Carden Hall tied Kaiser, 2-2.

Both teams advanced via 4-3 scores on penalty kicks.

The emotional high of winning a semifinal game via penalty kicks

came crashing down in the seventh minute for Mariners. Goalkeeper

Sydney King received medical attention after she injured her left

forearm attempting to block Gordon’s boot from 30-yards out. The ball

sailed perfectly under the crossbar and into the net for a goal, but

King, who leapt to try to redirect the ball, landed awkwardly.

Wooters suspected King broke her arm.

After a 15-minute delay, the Mariners defense tightened when play

resumed, but the Eagles maintained pressure.

“[King] is a great goalkeeper and a lot of our players know

[Mariners’] players,” Zimmerman said. “About half of our players saw

[King’s injury]. There’s not much you can say [to your team after an

incident] like that. You just try to forget about it and move on.”

Carden Hall’s Mary Yeager, Michelle Lancaster, Lauren D’Ippolito,

Lisa Matthews and Kathryn Zimmermann pushed the Mariners’ defense

while Gordon, Browne, Goff, Natalie Barbaresi, Annie Capaldi and

Jordan Murrel stopped most runs attempted by Mariners.

When Mariners players were able to get a shot off, goalkeeper

Morgan Williams was in position for the save.

The teamwork between the goalkeeper, defense and offense was

evident during one series shortly after the injury timeout.

Mariners had a run up the left side, but Goff rushed over from her

sweeper position to cut off the Mariners player, allowing Williams to

scoop up the ball. Williams sent the ball upfield, where Matthews was

able to eventually get a shot on goal. Although Meaghan Kay, King’s

replacement in goal, made the save, the cooperation in all phases of

the game was apparent.

Kay did a marvelous job stepping in for King, saving six shots in

the first half, including one on a Carden Hall corner kick and

another on a Gordon shot that looked almost identical to her goal

earlier in the half.

Mariners started the second half with a sense of urgency, getting

a push up the field from Shannon Boler and Tori Sarris in the 33rd

minute. But the Eagle defense thwarted the attempt.

Boler, Sarris, Meghan Nance, Molly Anderson and Madison Grant

tried to put pressure on the Carden Hall defense.

The Mariners’ defense also stepped up its intensity, challenging

Goff, Browne and Gordon more aggressively on 50-50 balls. Natalie

Swift, Madison Wooters, Tatum Norton, Taylor Cordeiro, Ellison

Schelin, Lauren Clemence and Delaney Bell were able to keep the ball

out of the 18-yard box for most of the second half for Mariners.

“We may be pint-sized, but we played tough,” Coach Wooters said.

A weapon Carden Hall relied on to keep the ball on the Mariners’

side of the field was the throw-in power of Goff.

“You just can’t adjust to that,” Zimmermann said. “She can throw

it farther than a lot of people can kick it. She’s amazing.”

A Goff throw-in set up the Eagles’ second goal. Goff centered the

ball via a throw-in to Browne, about 20 yards away from the goal.

Browne collected the ball, evaded a defender and lofted a shot that

drifted over the goalkeeper’s hands in the 51st minute.

“It is hard [to win three Daily Pilot Cup championships in a

row],” Zimmermann said. “That’s the way it should be. All of these

teams are evenly matched. You can tell by how close those semifinals

were.”