Sage Hill girls’ soccer outlasts Costa Mesa, makes first CIF semifinal
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A hundred minutes and nine perfect finishes from the penalty spot in a hard, gritty, spirited showdown full of incident, joy and woe — not particularly graceful, certainly not pretty — and a moment for which Finley Maynard had been working all of her soccer life arrived.
She handled it expertly.
The junior goalkeeper, so vital in keeping shorthanded Sage Hill in its CIF Southern Section Division 4 quarterfinal showdown Tuesday evening at Costa Mesa, dived to her left to save the last of 10 kicks in the shootout that followed a 1-1 draw, sending the Lightning (10-3-1) to the girls soccer semifinals for the first time.
The 5-4 triumph in the tiebreaker sets Sage Hill up with a home semifinal date Saturday with Coachella Valley (19-2-3), with La Mirada (11-8-4) or Redlands East Valley (12-5-2) awaiting the following weekend if successful. All four quarterfinals were decided on penalties.
“Oh my gosh, it feels so good,” said Maynard, who made seven saves during play, five after Costa Mesa started connecting passes after the break. “To be able to do that for my team, and it was the last breath ... it was great. I’m so proud of my team [and] excited to see what the next battle is. We could actually do this.”
Costa Mesa (13-7-1), which endured a difficult first half before finding its passing game after the break, had the edge when Tatiana Aguilar scored a beauty into the left-side netting from Riley Ego’s cross 10 minutes into the second half. Sage Hill caught up in the 69th minute, Keila Fukuda lobbing a 32-yard free kick over goalkeeper Michelle VIllalva and under the crossbar.
There were other chances — the best a Marina Trepas rebound off the top of the crossbar for the Mustangs in first-half stoppage — but little precision as both sides dealt with costly ankle injuries. Costa Mesa lost midfield leader Jazmina Beisner just three minutes in (Mustangs head coach Jason Boyce called it “a game-changer”) and Sage Hill hold-up forward Gisselle Barron fell midway through the second half.
Neither side created anything worthwhile over 20 minutes of overtime, but the shootout that followed was electric. Sage Hill, shooting first, made all five of its attempts, by Hall, Fukuda, Tessa Lin, Jaden Rall and Sydney Patel. Costa Mesa caught up after each of the first four, through Gianna Maitian, Grace Boyce, Jocelyn Culp and Kassandra Ramirez, the first three to the upper corner and the last to the lower-left corner.
Emiley Davis, so vibrant on the Mustangs’ left flank, stepped up for the fifth. She fired to the right. Maynard dived to her left, making the stop simple.
“I’ve got through years of training [at club powerhouses Slammers and now Pateadores] with penalties,” Maynard said. “[Davis] was looking at the [left] side of the goal the entire time [before shooting], so I just gambled with it. I saw her body language, saw where she was going, and I had to make a decision. And I made the right one.”
For Costa Mesa, devastation.
“I really thought that we had it,” said Matian, the Mustangs’ backline anchor. “When she made that save, it felt like everything dropped. We all knew that it was completely over. Everyone’s obviously sad and disappointed, because we all worked so hard for it.”
Said Boyce: “It’s the game that brings so much joy, but it also breaks your heart at the same time. Especially when you know that you have a solid team in your corner and you can play with any of these teams.”
Sage Hill reached the 2021 quarterfinals but hadn’t been in the playoffs the past two seasons. Seven of its 12 available players were freshmen — Barron, attacking midfielder Hall, do-everything midfielder Jaden Rall and galvanizing right back Elliot Trout among them — and two were sophomores.
“The girls showed a lot of resilience, and having the right attitude was exactly our DNA that we’ve been practicing and preaching all year,” Lightning head coach Issac Sierra said. “[The end was] special. That’s what the game is. It requires special moments. ...
“The girls earned every single bit of it, so to be where we are today, I’m extremely proud of them. At this stage, anybody can win. Just keep fighting.”
In other games:
Estancia 2, Tahquitz 1: The Eagles (11-4-4), Costa Mesa’s Battle of the Bell archrivals, advanced to the Division 5 semifinals to keep their back-to-back title hopes alive.
Vanessa Pastrana, an All-CIF selection from last year D5 titlists, set up Kimberly Muñoz’s volley from a short corner kick midway through the first half, then converted a penalty kick with about 10 minutes to go. Valerie Reyes tallied for the Titans (9-6-4) in the final minutes to end a shutout after Kate Jennis made two goal-saving plays for Estancia, which will be home in Saturday’s semifinal against Viewpoint (8-5-5).
“We talk about wanting to be at our best and peaking when we get into the playoffs,” Estancia head coach Josh Juarez said. “Right now we’re definitely playing some of out best soccer, and when we’re not, we’re still competing and fighting throughout the entire game.”
Westlake 3, Edison 0: Leyla Simon scored two goals and the Warriors, who knocked of No. 1 JSerra in the first round, posted their third successive playoff shutout to eliminate the visiting Chargers (14-8-3) in Division 1. Westlake (11-5-2) will meet Troy (14-2-2), which ousted Sunset League champion Los Alamitos, 1-0.
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