And now for Mira Costa’s next step...

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Mira Costa has played a challenging schedule, and the rigors of it have taken a toll on the team’s record.

The Mustangs (2-3-1, 0-0-1) played competitively in close losses to Esperanza, ranked No. 18 in the Southland by The Times; Narbonne, one of the better teams in the City Section; and Newport Harbor, a former top-25 team that remains among The Times’ bubble teams.

Last week, in a game Mira Costa hoped would serve as a midseason measuring stick, the Mustangs tied unbeaten West Torrance, 21-21.

It wasn’t quite what the Mustangs were looking for, but tonight in a Bay League game against visiting Palos Verdes (3-2-1, 0-1-0), they hope to take the next step. Like the Mustangs, the Sea Kings have a tie -- a 15-15 season-opening deadlock at Beverly Hills -- but they will come in having won three of their past four games. They suffered a 9-7 loss to Leuzinger (5-1, 1-0) last week after winning three in a row.

‘You can claim all the moral victories in the world, but until you beat somebody that’s good, you can’t really say that you’re good, too,’ Mira Costa Coach Don Morrow said.

After the tie with West Torrance (5-0-1, 0-0-1), however, the Mustangs’ mission is clear: to continue the progress.

‘I do consider it a step in the right direction,’ said Morrow, a South Bay-area coaching veteran in his 15th year at Mira Costa who also has coached at South Torrance and Redondo. ‘But we’ve had a bunch of steps in the right direction. I guess now I just wish we’d finish one of them.’

- Lauren Peterson