Coach Takes In an Earful as Marina Upsets Edison

Marina soccer Coach Tino Younger sat more than 200 yards away and listened to the cheers as his girls’ soccer team pulled off its second consecutive upset, a 3-2 overtime victory over third-ranked Edison in a Sunset League game Tuesday at Marina.

Younger could only guess who scored the winning goal 13 minutes into overtime, but he heard the Viking sideline erupt when junior Jennifer Kindschi used her stomach to knock in the game-winning goal off a perfectly placed corner kick from junior Ember Crouch.

Younger, ejected from the team’s last game (an upset victory over Esperanza), had to stay away from Tuesday’s game. While watching the junior varsity play, Younger relied on crowd response to find out what was happening.

“I had no idea who was scoring goals,” said Younger, whose team moved into a tie for second place with Edison. “This was huge for the kids. They learned that I don’t have to be there and that they don’t have to rely on me emotionally and mentally.”

Although Edison (13-2-2, 3-2), which was upset by Los Alamitos last week, dominated the first half, outshooting No. 9 Marina, 12-1, the Vikings (11-2-6, 2-0-3) made their shots count and relied heavily on goalkeeper Trisha Forni, who had 11 saves.

Assistant coach Stefanie Stucker, filling in for Younger, watched as Marina took a 1-0 lead 13 minutes into the game when senior Jenny Wootton took a pass from senior Jessica Duggan and slammed it into the goal.

Edison couldn’t get the ball past Forni until the last minute of the half, when senior Kim Stempkowski scored on a free kick that went over Forni’s head.

Marina took a 2-1 lead off another Crouch corner kick, which sophomore Laura Riegler headed into the goal in the 49th minute.

Edison rallied and tied the score on another goal by Stempkowski, who took a pass in front of the goal and launched it by a diving Forni.