Girls’ Soccer: Oilers pull it out in PKs
SAN CLEMENTE — Over the course of her four years as part of the Huntington Beach High girls’ soccer program, Rachel Harris has proven, without question, that she is unafraid of the moment.
Playing under the brightest lights and on the biggest stages rank among her deepest desires.
In the case of a goalkeeper, no moment epitomizes that pressure more so than the end of the game, specifically when the game must have a winner.
On Tuesday night, Harris and her counterpart, UCLA signee Lauren Brzykcy, headed to the south end of the stadium at San Clemente High.
Both goalies had kept a clean sheet to that point, with their teams putting their full trust in the seniors, perhaps for the very last time.
Harris stopped the first two shots she faced in the shootout, and Huntington Beach bested host San Clemente, 4-1, on penalty kicks in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
“I don’t have to save it. They have to make it,” Harris said. “I’ve said that before, and I’ll say it again. I love PK’s. I live and die for PK’s.”
If soccer ever failed her, Harris might have a career as a fortune-teller. The Arkansas signee walked into the pre-shootout huddle voicing the words, “We’re playing at home on Friday.”
Two road victories against fourth-seeded Harvard-Westlake and the Tritons will put the Oilers (19-7-5) at home against Chino Hills (18-5-3) on Friday. The quarterfinals berth matches the furthest that Huntington Beach has gone in five seasons with Raul Ruiz as head coach.
“I was confident that we were going home,” Harris said of the speech. “I made a promise to them that in the back of the net, I would do my job and keep them out.”
“It’s a great feeling. It’s priceless.”
Harris dove to her right to stop Tori Phillips on the first penalty kick she faced. On the next one, she ranged to her left to save a rising effort from Ellie Winkelman.
Ruiz was equally confident going into the tie-breaking procedure.
“Every time we go to PK’s, I feel that we have the best goalkeeper in Southern California that actually lives for those kinds of moments,” Ruiz said. “We play for her because we know that when it comes to those moments in PK’s, we can always count on her.”
Earlier in the season, Harris also scored in penalty kicks to help her team advance past Trabuco Hills in the Excalibur Tournament at Irvine Great Park.
Alijah Oliver, Anna Carleton, Katherine Martinez, and Cina Wilson scored in the shootout for the Oilers.
Brzykcy lay facedown on the goal line after Wilson’s shot went off her hands and into the left corner of the goal for the game-winner.
Wilson was unaware of Brzykcy’s accolades. The freshman called her scoring strike ‘crazy’ once she had learned more about who she was facing.
“I was a little nervous at first, but it was really exciting getting the win,” Wilson added after her teammates had mobbed her and Harris near the goal.
The star-studded career of Brzykcy at San Clemente ended with four converted penalty kicks, but the San Clemente standout had her highlights in her final game for the Tritons (10-8-5).
In the 59th minute, Martinez sent a missile of a free kick towards the Tritons’ goal from 45 yards out. Brzykcy needed her full vertical leap to get a hand on it, but she was able to knock the shot over the crossbar.
Huntington Beach held all of the momentum late, as San Clemente appeared content to clear the ball away from the box. The Oilers had five throw-ins in a three-minute span.
On the last one, Xolani Hodel got the ball back after a short toss, and the freshman’s cross got Oliver open in space. Brzykcy came across to the back post, and she was able to fight off the golden scoring opportunity.
Tensions rise, especially in the postseason. The game saw its share of heated moments, with Oliver exchanging words face-to-face with a Tritons defender whose foot had gotten near her face on a clearance attempt.
Ruiz applauded Oliver’s maturity to settle back into the game, and on a larger scale, his team’s ability to traverse the dangerous terrain of a tight game. He added that the competitive environment of the Sunset League certainly helped, as the Oilers saw the extra session in abundance.
“We were the team that had six overtimes during league,” Ruiz said. “We won three, we lost three, but the most important thing is that we learned how to manage and use those overtime minutes to our favor.”
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
