No. 1 Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo Play 0-0 Tie

After a crucial foul call and numerous missed opportunities left Capistrano Valley and visiting Mission Viejo in a 0-0 tie Thursday, the question was: Who’s No. 1 in girls’ soccer?

Ten minutes into the South Coast League game, the top-ranked Cougars (16-0-3, 3-0-1) appeared to take a 1-0 lead, but a foul on third-ranked Mission Viejo (13-3-2, 4-0-1) negated the goal.

Cougar forward Chandra King went one-on-one with goalkeeper Hannah Cochrun. The two collided and fell in the penalty box, while freshman Ashley Casas drilled the ball into the net. The referee called a foul on Cochrun, disallowed the goal and gave the Cougars an indirect kick inside the box.

“I thought it was a goal,” said Capistrano Valley Coach Jack Peterson. “Then I turned around and saw [the referee’s] hand up. That’s when I went ballistic. You would think they would look at the key games in the county and send the best crews to those games. I still don’t know what he called. If anything I think we should have been given a penalty kick.”

Mission Viejo Coach George Larsen agreed, saying he didn’t see much of a foul.

“Some kind of play like that always decides these kind of games.”

Despite the call, both coaches said neither team played to its capabilities.

The Cougars, who controlled the ball most of the first half, failed to convert on five corner kicks and two free kicks in the game. Mission Viejo, which had scored 13 second-half goals in three league games, got off only six shots in the game.

“With the talent on both of these teams this should be a highly skilled game--not today,” Peterson said. “It was such an emotional game that they lost their focus.”