Perrotta’s Kick Lifts the Eagles

Erica Perrotta had scored the lone goal that kept Santa Margarita’s playoff hopes alive for 80 minutes of regulation and 40 minutes of overtime periods Thursday, but the junior midfielder wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence when she got ready to take the shootout penalty kick that could lift the Eagles to victory over West Torrance.

“Out of all the penalty kicks I’ve taken in my life, I had only made two,” she said. “I went up there thinking, ‘I’m going right, I’m going right.’ But then I thought the goalie was leaning that way, so I changed my mind and went left. . . . which is the worst thing you can do, of course.”

But Perrotta’s penalty-kick fortunes changed and her shot into the top left corner put Santa Margarita (14-5-4) into the Southern Section Division II girls’ soccer semifinals with a 4-3 victory. The Eagles play Corona Centennial Tuesday.

Perrotta gave Santa Margarita a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute when she sprinted down the right wing and onto a cross from Sara Henderson and then beat Warrior keeper Chrissa Gaitan from 10 yards.

Five minutes later, West Torrance’s Jill Dobens slipped through the Eagle defense and Santa Margarita sweeper Stacy Rowell tripped her from behind in the penalty area. Freshman midfielder Kristi Tanaka slipped the ensuing penalty kick inside the right post to tie the score.

Eagle freshman central midfielder Jenny Anderson had two good scoring chances, but both shots sailed just over the crossbar.

Defender Jessica Gonzalez scored to give the Warriors (22-6-2) a 3-2 shootout advantage with one Eagle player left, but freshman forward Carolyn Staples drilled a shot into the high left corner to keep Santa Margarita alive. After West Torrance’s Christina Fujii hit the left post, Perrotta hit the game-winner.

“It wasn’t a pretty game, the field conditions meant that their were a lot of dead legs out there,” Santa Margarita Coach Chuck Morales said, “but this is a very young team, we have only two seniors, and I really think they’re starting to come into their own right now.”