Capistrano Valley Wins the First League Battle

If the league opener for the Capistrano Valley and Trabuco Hills girls’ soccer teams was any indication Thursday, there will be a hard-fought battle for the South Coast League title this season.

Capistrano Valley prevailed, 2-1, but only after Trabuco Hills out-hustled and outplayed the Cougars for the first 15 minutes of the game, winning almost every loose ball and scoring seven minutes into the game to take a 1-0 lead.

“They’re coming out so fast kind of took our kids off guard a little bit,” said Hamid Sedehi, Capistrano Valley coach.

Lisa Casey scored off her left foot for Trabuco Hills, sending the ball into the upper right corner of the goal. Capistrano Valley (10-2-2, 1-0), answered 10 minutes later after Elizabeth Delgado crossed the ball to Karen Velton, who scored.

The winning goal came after a Capistrano Valley corner kick in the final minute of the first half. Freshman Megan Rupsa took the set piece and placed the ball high in front of the goal, where sophomore Kim Abbamonto leaped and headed it into the net.

“[Trabuco Hills players] stopped winning the ball and I think that’s one of the things that we’re going to be working on in practice,” said Patti Bracey, Trabuco Hills coach. “They did start to get a little better toward the end, but it was too late.”

Trabuco Hills (9-4-2, 0-1) had two excellent chances to score in the second half--one time a shot hit the crossbar and one time Capistrano Valley goalkeeper Shawna Draper made an excellent save after a corner kick. Draper had 12 saves in the game.

Capistrano Valley is the league favorite, but all six teams in the league are extremely competitive.

“I consider this league the toughest league in [Southern Section] Division I, so every game is going to be a battle,” Sedehi said. “Every point we get here and there is a blessing.”