Girls’ Soccer: Eagles unlucky once again
ENCINO — The second-round curse, if you want to call it that, is very much alive and well for the Estancia High girls’ soccer team.
The Eagles were dealt unfortunate luck late in their CIF Southern Section Division 4 second-round playoff game against Mission Hills Alemany on Tuesday night. Junior keeper Monique Mendoza went down after a hard collision with Alemany’s Haileigh Adams.
Mendoza, who had made six saves to that point, had to exit the game. At the time, in the 65th minute, Estancia was trying to protect a one-goal lead.
It didn’t happen.
Alemany’s Adams scored the equalizer five minutes later, then Jennifer Roney scored the golden goal winner five minutes into the first overtime. The Warriors stormed the field at Crespi High after their 3-2 victory, the latest heartbreaking postseason defeat for Estancia.
Estancia, which has still not made the CIF quarterfinals since 1993, had its third straight brutal loss in the second round. Two years ago, the Eagles also couldn’t hold a two-goal lead in losing at Ontario Colony. Last year, they fell in penalty kicks to Pacifica at home.
Roney scored the game-winner for Alemany off a free kick from the right side by senior center back Caitlyn Buckley. Estancia’s Jada Alford, who moved from right back to goalie when Mendoza got hurt, got her hands on it but bobbled it a bit.
Roney, one of six team captains for Alemany (12-8-1), was there to stick in the goal. The Warriors move on to play Paloma Valley, which upset top-seeded La Quinta, in the quarterfinals on Friday.
“It’s such a good comeback for us, especially because we haven’t made round three of playoffs in a while,” Roney said. “We just wanted to fight all the way and get there. Really, there’s no words to describe how excited we are.”
Estancia (13-6-2) was excited in the first half, as it earned a 2-0 lead. Freshman Desiree Mendoza finished off a cross by junior Isabelle Cruz in the seventh minute. Then, in the 26th minute, Mendoza found Cruz speeding up the left sideline. Cruz made a spectacular finish, shooting cross-cage into the upper-right corner.
But things started to go against Estancia. Buckley cut Alemany’s deficit in half in the 29th minute, scoring a straightaway free kick from 35 yards out into the lower-left corner.
And, in the second half, Cruz had to come out. She held her lower back as she walked gingerly off the field.
“I think the girls worked hard,” Estancia Coach Josh Juarez said. “We played a good team, just a little unfortunate with a couple of girls going down in that game. It makes a big difference when you lose a couple of girls like ‘Izzy’ and ‘Mo.’ [Cruz] got hurt in the last game. She was torching this team to start off. She tried to give everything she could, tried to play through it, it was just a lot of pain.”
Mendoza’s injury later forced Juarez to switch things up. He put Alford in goal, and senior Katarina Freiberger went from midfield to the right back spot. Up until that point, Estancia’s defense, which also included senior Elizabeth Esquivel, junior Jailene Bell and junior Annalysa Cowie, had done a good job slowing down Alemany.
But five minutes later, Adams scored from the left, a shot that Alford deflected but it just crossed the goal line. The Warriors had the momentum going into golden goal overtime, and they ended it minutes later.
“It’s asking a lot of our freshman to step in there in that situation,” Juarez said. “We knew we needed that third goal today, and just weren’t able to put it in. She’s a good keeper, but it’s hard for her to step in cold and expect her to save us there. They scored two off those free kicks, and that was a difference-maker. We try to win all three aspects, and they won the set piece battle today. That was the difference in the game.”
Despite the loss, Juarez, in his second year, said it was a pleasure to coach the Eagles this season.
“We have a lot of talent, and these girls have a lot of pride in representing their school, representing their city,” Juarez said. “I haven’t been a part of a lot of programs with this much passion for putting on that Estancia jersey, the jersey of their school. I think we battled through some tough injuries ... to get to this game and get to a back-and-forth game with a good team, I think that says a lot about their tenacity throughout the year.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
