Angels outlast Rea Sharks

For a video, click here.

For a photo gallery, click here.

COSTA MESA — It wasn’t hard to ignore Haley Hopkins during the opening day of the 10th annual Daily Pilot Cup, the youth soccer tournament.

Though she played on a field tucked away in a corner of Costa Mesa High, she stood out for her Our Lady Queen of Angels team during a girls’ third- and fourth-grade silver division match against Rea.

Hopkins was hardly seen in the first half, but she definitely made her presence felt in the second half, scoring three goals to lead OLQA to a 6-4 win Tuesday.

There was a reason for Hopkins-less first half.

“I didn’t care [about playing in the first half],” said Hopkins, who once scored five goals for her AYSO select team. “I wanted everyone to play.”

Everyone did play for OLQA, which had a 3-0 lead at halftime.

Kendall Dewey scored twice and Brooke Steinberg added a goal, as it appeared the Sharks were done. But they responded with a 4-1 run to tie the game, 4-4, midway through the second half.

Gladys Davila, playing in her first Daily Pilot Cup, scored three goals, and Cathy Flores added another for Rea.

“I think they were waiting for that opportunity and they took it,” Rea Coach Kim Solorzano said of her team. “I told them they needed to communicate more and they did. I’m very proud of them. I had told them that they were going to have to work together. We really focused on that.”

Still, the Sharks did not have an answer for Hopkins late in the game.

First, Hopkins stole a goalie kick and scored from about 20 yards out. Then she put away another goal from midfield on a free kick as time expired.

Though Hopkins helped her team win by two goals, OLQA came away impressed with Rea.

“It was exciting,” said David Hopkins, an OLQA coach and Haley’s father. “[The Sharks] seemed to find a nother gear. They didn’t give up. You always love to see that.”