SOUTHERN SECTION SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Girls’ Roundup : Murray Leads Top-Seeded Esperanza Past Chaffey in Overtime, 3-1

Sophomore Lynn Murray scored two goals and assisted on another in Esperanza High School’s 3-1 overtime victory over Chaffey in a Southern Section 4-A girls’ second-round game Tuesday at Esperanza.

Esperanza (23-0-3), which was tied at the end of regulation, 1-1, took a 2-1 lead with 7 minutes left in overtime when Leigh Ann Murphy took a pass from Murray, fought off two defenders and lobbed a close-in shot over goalie Tina Gutierrez’s head.

Two minutes later, Murray scored her second goal of the game and 23rd of the season. With Gutierrez out of position, Murray took a loose ball deep in the goalie’s box and tapped the ball in.

The Aztecs, the top-seeded team in the 4-A, will play Edison in Friday’s quarterfinals.

“I thought we were a much better team going in, but the ball just didn’t go into the net,” said Esperanza Coach John Coppage, whose team outshot the Tigers, 23-2. “We were much quicker than they were, but we had three shots that hit the post in regulation and shot many other balls wide. We could have had a 3-0 lead at halftime the way we were attacking them, but instead, we were scoreless at halftime.”

Chaffey, which managed just one shot on goal in the first half, took a 1-0 lead with 7 minutes gone in the second half when Marti Shumate’s long free kick from near midfield eluded a series of Aztec defenders and skipped past goalie Tymerie Busser into the net. The goal was only the eighth allowed this season by Esperanza, which compiled 18 shutouts before it started postseason play.

“That goal was a fluke,” Coppage said, “but then again, that’s what sometimes happens in the . . . playoffs. You can outshoot a team throughout the game only to have the other team score a goal on a play like that.”

Four minutes after Shumate’s goal, Esperanza tied the score on Murray’s close-in rebound shot. Murray’s goal came after Michelle Rullo took a pass from Jennifer Gulden deep inside the penalty area and kicked a short shot that barely hit the post.

The ball bounced to Murray, who scored.

The Aztecs kept controlling the ball inside the Chaffey zone after Murray’s game-tying goal, but could not capitalize on two major scoring chances as the second half neared its end. The first such opportunity came with 13 minutes left when Rullo took a pass from Karen Van Winkle, broke away from the Chaffey defense and lobbed a close-in angle shot that bounced just wide of the net.

The second came with less than a minute remaining when Jenise Webb’s free kick from just outside the penalty area hit the crossbar and bounced high over the net.

In other 4-A games:

Edison 1, Arcadia 0 (OT)--Alysson Gibbs scored with a minute left in overtime with an assist from Briana Winter for host Edison (9-8-5). Nikki Turner had 11 saves for Edison.

Royal 1, Dana Hills 0--Staci Blough scored in the first half for visiting Royal (20-1-2), the third-seeded team. Karla Gunderson had six saves for visiting Dana Hills, which ends the season 16-6-5.

Capistrano Valley 2, Palos Verdes 0--Laurinda Mulhaupt scored both second-half goals for second-seeded Capistrano Valley (19-4-2) at Palos Verdes (12-11-1). Mulhaupt directed Susan Staab’s shot on goal into the net for her first goal and drilled a left-footed line drive for her second. Capistrano Valley goalie Suzie Bone had six saves. Capistrano Valley plays Corona del Mar in the quarterfinals Friday.

Corona del Mar 2, Upland 0--Tracy Schriber scored two goals, one in each half, for host Corona del Mar (17-5-4). Julie Smith assisted on the first goal and Kristin Borland assisted on the second. It was the 17th shutout of the season for Corona del Mar.

In the 2-A:

Valencia 3, Cerritos 2 (OT)--Host Valencia scored inside of the final minute of the first half, the second half and overtime for the victory. Sophomore Kristina Yoseloff scored with 40 seconds left in the second 10-minute overtime to win the game. Kristina had scored with about 40 seconds left in the first half and her sister, Juliette, a senior, scored with less than a minute left in regulation to tie it, 2-2. Betsy Cruz had five saves in the first half and Donnelle Scott had six saves in the second half for Valencia.