Harvard-Westlake Pays Penalty and Buena Wins

Maybe it’s not the way the Buena High girls’ soccer team wanted to win.

But it wasn’t the way Harvard-Westlake wanted to lose, either.

Natalie Sanderson scored on a penalty kick in the 79th minute to give Buena, ranked No. 1 in the region by The Times, a 2-1 victory over No. 3 Harvard-Westlake in a nonleague game Tuesday.

Tracy Lansing of Harvard-Westlake was called for tripping, giving Sanderson the game-winning opportunity.

Coach Ned Smith of Harvard-Westlake thought Lansing wasn’t inside the goalkeeper’s box when the penalty was called, citing the distance at which the referee called the play.

“To call a penalty kick from that distance?” Smith said. “I don’t think [Sanderson] was fouled.”

Sanderson beat goalkeeper Dana Reyes for the game-winner and assisted Ashleigh Garmon, whose goal in the 74th minute tied the score, 1-1.

“I was surprised I got that call,” said Sanderson. “I heard the whistle and I was shocked because I didn’t think it was in the box.”

Buena (2-0) extended its winning streak to 34 games.

“[Sanderson] did get fouled inside the box,” said Coach Trish Butterbaugh of Buena. “She was attacking and she drew the foul.”

Said Sanderson: “We don’t like to win like this, but we’ll take it.”

Buena’s comeback in the final 10 minutes erased what was a spirited defensive effort by the Wolverines (3-1-1), who limited the Bulldogs to eight shots, three in the first half.

Reyes made seven saves.

Jill Oakes and Kim LaVere of Harvard-Westlake played havoc with Sanderson and Garmon.

“Buena’s game is to skip the midfield and get the ball up front to [Sanderson and Garmon],” Smith said. “Jill did a great job to get in there and break their passes up. Kim played a great game”

Lansing scored on a blast from 30 yards in the 38th minute to give Harvard-Westlake a 1-0 halftime lead.

“[Harvard-Westlake] shut us down in the first half,” Butterbaugh said. “But I also felt like we were playing very tentatively. We needed to unload. Instead, we were passive.”

Despite putting constant pressure on the Wolverines, Buena did not record a shot on goal until 34 minutes into the match.

Three times in the first half, Lisa Engel’s shots soared over the goal.

“They played really awesome defense against us,” Sanderson said. “It seemed like they were very aggressive. They outplayed us.”

The Wolverines outshot Buena, 9-8. Currie Hunt made six saves for the Bulldogs.

“That is the single hardest team we’ll face this year,” Smith said. “I think we played them pretty tough.”