Estancia girls’ soccer again shuts out rival Costa Mesa

Annalysa Cowie has enjoyed playing center back for the Estancia High girls’ soccer team in the past, but she said she also likes her new role as more of an attacking midfielder this season.

Especially for a senior, Cowie’s first goal of the season came at a good time Tuesday night against rival Costa Mesa. It put the finishing touches on the Eagles’ 3-0 win at home that concluded the first round of Orange Coast League play for both schools.

Sophomore Desiree Mendoza had a goal and two assists and senior striker Lexi Osso scored for Estancia, which has dominated the Battle for the Bell game in recent years. The Eagles have recorded 13 straight league wins against the Mustangs. Estancia has outscored Costa Mesa 38-0 in that stretch.

The Mustangs’ last goal in the rivalry game was Feb. 10, 2011, when they forged a 1-1 tie.

“We all step up as a team,” Mendoza said. “We try our hardest against Mesa every time that we play them. I’m just glad to be back on the field playing with my teammates.”

Mendoza missed most of the preseason due to club commitments, then a right ankle injury. She played a part in all three goals Tuesday, helping the Eagles improve to 3-7-3 overall and 3-1-1 in league , good for a tie with Godinez for second place. Both teams are chasing defending league champion Laguna Beach, which is 5-0-0 in league after beating Saddleback 5-0 on Tuesday.

Mendoza scored the first goal against Costa Mesa in the 29th minute. Costa Mesa junior goalkeeper Emma Warner was able to get a hand on Mendoza’s nicely placed free kick from 35 yards out, but was unable to stop it from going into the upper part of the net.

Six minutes later, Mendoza played the ball ahead to Osso from midfield. Osso, who Estancia coach Josh Juarez said had three goals in Thursday’s 5-0 win over Calvary Chapel, scored from the right side of the box to give the Eagles a 2-0 halftime lead.

“I thought we played well,” Juarez said. “We knew that Costa Mesa was going to be an organized team. We knew that we couldn’t sit back and wait. We had to take the game to them, because they had more numbers sitting back.”

The Estancia back line of sophomore center backs Ana Ruiz and Wendy Milan, as well as freshmen Jessica Marroquin and Crystal Arellano, helped preserve the shutout. Senior keeper Monique Mendoza also played big, leaping to deflect a free kick from Costa Mesa’s Makanalani Lukela off the crossbar in the 66th minute. Mendoza had four saves.

“Having a young back line, it’s nice to know that we have a senior keeper there to back up on any of their mistakes,” Juarez said.

Coach Jon Crowley saw his Mustangs (1-8-4, 1-3-1) come close to scoring again just before the final whistle. Sophomore forward Natalia Guzman’s shot went off the right post.

“Offensively, we had every bit as many opportunities as Estancia, if not more,” Crowley said. “I thought we controlled the ball better in the middle, as well. It’s just that final third, finding the net. If Costa Mesa starts finding the net, I think we can compete with anybody in the league.”

Cowie found the back of the net in the 73rd minute, on a cross from the right from Mendoza.

“I’ve been trying to score, so it felt really good,” Cowie said. “It’s different [playing up]. It’s been a big change. Playing center back, I have a center back mind-set. It’s hard to adjust, but I like it a lot better.”

Estancia plays Godinez on Thursday at 2:45 p.m. at Centennial Regional Park in Santa Ana, while Costa Mesa plays host to Saddleback on Thursday at 5 p.m.

“I like our chances if we’re able to keep improving,” Juarez said. “That’s been our thing all year, we want to improve with every game. It’ll be a fun game next time we play [Laguna Beach at home on Feb. 1], but right now we’re just focused on Godinez. [The Grizzlies] were able to tie us in the first go-round, so we definitely want to be prepared and not overlook them.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo