Girls’ Soccer: Golden finish for Oilers
With six total goals in the first 30 minutes of the game, Tuesday night’s Sunset League girls’ soccer opener between Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor was wild.
It reminded Huntington Beach Coach Raul Ruiz of another unpredictable game he saw the night before.
“It kind of resembled the USC-Penn State [Rose Bowl football] game, that crazy finish,” Ruiz said with a smile.
The teams settled down in the second half and extra time. Sixty minutes passed before either squad could score again.
Ruiz’s Oilers ended up as the USC of his analogy, though, after winning the game in stunning fashion.
Junior captain Alijah Oliver scored the golden goal 10 minutes into extra time, assisted by sophomore Anna Carleton, to lift Huntington Beach to a 4-3 victory over Newport Harbor.
Oliver took a nice cross from the right from Carleton, heading the ball into the back of the net to end it.
“I just wanted the game to be over,” Oliver said. “I just had to put all my energy to it, to get the last goal. It’s our first win at home this season, so it honestly means a lot for our seniors and everything. Our [league] season is off to a good start.”
Sophomore Jenna Nighswonger had a hat trick after scoring all three first-half goals for the Oilers (12-4-3, 1-0 in league), who got off to a good start on their quest for a third straight Sunset League title. But it was only after staving off an inspired effort from a much-improved Newport Harbor side (9-1-2, 0-1), which suffered its first loss of the season.
Nighswonger scored the first goal in the seventh minute, a well-struck ball from up top. But the Sailors and senior forward Sianna Siemonsma responded four minutes later. Siemonsma took a nice through ball from freshman Skylynn Rodriguez to score. Then, three minutes after that, the Sailors took the lead.
Senior Zoe Conley stole the ball from the Oilers and got it to Siemonsma in space, and her shot went into the upper-right corner for a 2-1 Newport Harbor lead.
The Oilers responded after a deep throw-in by freshman Xolani Hodel, as Nighswonger was able to put it into the back of the net. But Newport Harbor scored again in the 26th minute, when Rodriguez finished off a pass from Siemonsma from a tough angle on the right side.
Huntington Beach, coming off a sixth-place finish in the prestigious Excalibur Tournament, scored the final goal of the half. Nighswonger converted a direct free kick from 24 yards out. But scoring chances proved harder to come by in the second half.
“I think in that second half, we had to adjust,” Ruiz said. “We love going forward, but we had to make some defensive adjustments. [Siemonsma] is really good, and I’ve got to give her a lot of credit. She was creating havoc on the back line, and we just needed to make that adjustment to help solidify our back line.”
The game went to extra time, and both teams had chances to end it with a golden goal. The Sailors’ best shot came after senior Sienna Ward crossed it from the right to freshman Sadie Pitchess, who collided with Huntington Beach goalie Rachel Harris as the ball went wide of the net. Harris, who made three saves, was shaken up but able to stay in.
Goalies Ryah Montano and Bryana Esparza combined for five saves for Newport Harbor, which won just four games all of last season and finished last in the six-team league.
“Our first loss of the year,” Sailors first-year Coach Justin Schroeder said of Tuesday’s result. “Maybe we just needed to get that one out of the way. It sucks it had to come in league, but we get to play them again, so hopefully we’ll get it done on our own turf.
“You’re never happy with a loss but you’re happy with a result. I think we showed that we belong in consideration in this league ... This is kind of what the league is. I think we’re right there. We’re just going to have to be a little bit better with some of the smaller things we do, the simple things.”
Huntington Beach continues league play when it plays host to Excalibur Tournament champion Los Alamitos on Thursday at 5 p.m. Los Al beat Huntington Beach in the tournament quarterfinals, 1-0, on its way to the title.
Newport Harbor plays host to Marina on Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. at Estancia High.
