Girls’ Soccer: HB stuns top seed
SAN DIEGO — Freshman Summer Stewart, who played on junior varsity until league play began, stepped up with two big second-half goals.
Sophomore Bianca Maccabi, making a rare varsity start for her, made a goal-saving tackle in the first half.
The Huntington Beach High girls’ soccer team seems to have new heroes in each game. That’s the sign of an exceptional team, and it’s an exceptional team whose season will continue after delivering an upset victory on Tuesday night.
The No. 8-seeded Oilers went on the road and stunned top-seeded Torrey Pines, 3-0, in a CIF Southern California Regional Division I first-round match at Torrey Pines High.
Huntington Beach (19-8-7), making its first SoCal Regional appearance in program history, notched a win. The Oilers will play at Fresno Bullard in a regional quarterfinal on Thursday. No. 4-seeded Bullard beat No. 5 Santa Clarita Hart, 2-0, in another first-round game Tuesday.
The season goes on for the Oilers, who failed to earn a “three-peat” in the Sunset League but have had a magical postseason run that included the first CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal berth in program history.
It’s a young team, with goalie Rachel Harris and center back Katie Martinez as the only two senior starters. But now it’s a young team that is two wins away from a SoCal Regional Division I title. Freshman Xolani Hodel also scored for the Oilers on Tuesday night.
“Rachel Harris and Katie Martinez, on the field, I think they really do a great job making sure that our young squad continues having success,” Oilers Coach Raul Ruiz said. “The most important thing is our attitude, our willingness to learn and our [hunger] right now. At this point, we’re super-hungry. Like I told the group, when we got selected for this phase, we were blessed. Unfortunately, we played a great squad in [eventual champion] JSerra [in a 2-1 CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal loss], but that’s done and over. This is a new tournament, and it’s a new beginning for us.”
The Oilers did well to get through the first half scoreless against Torrey Pines (20-3-1), the CIF San Diego Section Open Division champion which had an 18-match winning streak snapped. Maccabi’s tackle, in a one-on-one matchup against the Falcons’ Jessica Wright, kept it scoreless in the 27th minute. A minute later, Harris came out to make one of her six saves after Wright got behind the defense.
“For us to adjust as the game went on, especially during halftime, was huge,” Ruiz said. “Coming out with that 0-0 at halftime was huge. Once we knew what they had, we just had to plug in and make sure we did our job defensively.”
Huntington Beach did more than that. It stunned the hosts, who gave up more than two goals for the first time all season.
Stewart, the freshman, did well up top. She had increased playing time as another Oilers freshman, Cina Wilson, missed the game with a bruised toe. Wilson had the goal late against JSerra.
Stewart made the most of her opportunity. In the 48th minute, she earned the Oilers a corner kick. Sophomore Anna Carleton took it from the left, and junior Brianna Barnes headed a shot toward the goal. Torrey Pines goalie Sherrie Antoun made the save, but Stewart was there for the follow-up header goal.
Then, in the 60th minute, Stewart struck a beautiful shot from about 25 yards out that went into the upper-left corner.
“Every practice, I try to work hard and work my butt off,” Stewart said. “Once I get played, no matter how many minutes I get played, I’m just going to show I can do it and keep on working. It’s a blessing for me to get playing time as a freshman, and I’m just enjoying it.”
Late in the game, Harris made perhaps her best save of the match, diving to her right to snag a shot from Jayda Hammermeister. She and the rest of the defense, including Martinez, Barnes, Maccabi and Kekoa Nelson, would keep the clean slate.
The Oilers added their third goal late, in the 75th minute, after another corner kick by Carleton. Hodel was the tallest player on the field, but she used her feet, not her head, to stick in another insurance score near the goal line.
Huntington Beach also benefitted from the return of sophomore midfielder Jenna Nighswonger from an exhibition tour with the U.S. Under-18 women’s national team. After Hodel’s goal, the Oilers could get ready to start thinking about a trip to Fresno. They are one win away from a possible rematch with JSerra, which plays Granada Hills Charter in the other Division I regional semifinal.
A crazy week is just getting started for Harris and Hodel, who also play on the Oilers girls’ basketball team. They will be in the San Diego area again on Wednesday night, as Huntington Beach plays at Poway in a CIF State SoCal Regional Division II first-round girls’ basketball game.
Whatever happens there, Harris will continue enjoying her extended season on the pitch.
“We’ve proven that we can beat anybody,” she said. “It’s high school soccer. You just need a group of girls that buy into what the coach is asking. Rankings mean nothing. No one even ranked us. We weren’t ranked for CIF, we weren’t even in the top 10 for Orange County for a long time, but it doesn’t matter. You just come out and come to play.
“We’re continuing to make history, and that’s the best part about it. Nobody else has done this at this school … You couldn’t ask for a better senior year.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
