Woodbridge Stuns Laguna Hills in the First Round

If it’s Woodbridge girls’ soccer, it must be unpredictable.

Woodbridge upset Laguna Hills, 2-0, in the first round of the Southern Section Division II tournament Saturday at Laguna Hills.

“That was the A-team. . . . When the A-team comes to play, we can play with anyone,” said Woodbridge Coach William Bell. “Sometimes the evil twins show up.”

Laguna Hills, 18-7-1, is the Pacific Coast League champion and was ranked No. 6 in the final county coaches’ poll. Woodbridge (15-9-3), which placed third in the Sea View League, was unranked.

Woodbridge has had an incredibly topsy-turvy season--on Jan. 21, Woodbridge tied league power Santa Margarita and two weeks later, it lost to struggling Newport Harbor.

The Warriors lost 10 seniors after last season and more than half the spots on the Warrior roster this season are filled with underclassmen, including five freshmen and five sophomores.

It was the youth movement that gave Woodbridge its winning goal in the 65th minute. Emily Schwimmer, a freshman, collected the ball from senior Lizzy Lemire in the midfield and crossed it to freshman Sierra Cristiano, who finished with a shot back across and into the goal.

Lemire, who will head to Notre Dame in fall on a softball scholarship, is the heart of the Warrior team. Big and strong, she sets the pace for Woodbridge.

“I love this sport,” Lemire said. “We really knew we could [win]. When we come to play, we can play with anyone.”

Lemire scored an insurance goal in the 75th minute on a penalty kick after a hand ball was called in the penalty area.

In the first half, Woodbridge consistently beat Laguna Hills in the midfield and often camped out around the Hawk goal.

“We gave them far too many opportunities in the first half and we escaped. In the second half, they had far fewer opportunities. . . . but they capitalized,” said Laguna Hills Coach Kevin Macare.

The Hawks were depleted by injuries sustained in their wild-card victory over Anaheim on Wednesday. Right midfielder Sarah Andrews sat out the game and right defender April Peron played despite her injury.

Hawk center midfielder Stacy Roberts, who will head to Loyola Marymount in the fall, did all she could to pick up the slack.

“I think Stacy Roberts capped off her senior year really well,” Macare said.

Laguna Hills forward Karine Inoue, two-time league most valuable player and an all-county selection last season, played her first game back after breaking her foot in the preseason.

Inoue entered at the 20-minute mark to loud applause from the crowd of about 300. Almost immediately, she gave the Hawks their first shot of the game on a header and about 10 minutes later had another sliding shot that went wide.

“Karine is Karine and when you have her on the field, you’re going to get opportunities,” Macare said.