Golden goal stuns Marina girls’ soccer in CIF Division 3 final
A lightning strike in the distance was enough to postpone Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 girls’ soccer title match for 30 minutes before overtime began.
Marina and Moorpark both went back to the locker room tied 1-1.
A few minutes after play began again, a lightning strike from the foot of Moorpark sophomore Zaina Barakat was enough to lift her team to a CIF championship.
Barakat’s cross-cage golden goal in the 85th minute, from about 25 yards out, found the upper left corner. It lifted the Musketeers to a 2-1 overtime victory over the Vikings at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Moorpark (17-4), seeded No. 3, kept the pressure on the Vikings (11-6-7) for much of the match. Barakat found herself open in space and made the most of it in a match that was played in on-again, off-again rainy conditions.
“It was a hard-fought game, for sure,” Marina coach Heath Oberle said. “Moorpark’s a great team. They brought it to us from the very beginning. We had to make some adjustments to match their intensity and their effort, and I felt like we started getting that momentum and matched it. Once you go into [overtime], anything can happen. The girl struck a great shot, and game over. It’s that quick.”
Moorpark indeed put the pressure on early and often, but Marina sophomore goalkeeper Taylee Vo (10 saves) made a couple of standout stops to keep her team in it.
In the 12th minute, Vo deflected a shot from Gianna Foss over the crossbar. On the ensuing corner kick, Vo deflected it off the bar.
Moorpark finally broke through in the 22nd minute. A corner kick from the left by Barakat resulted in a scrum in front of the net for several seconds. Play continued, and Moorpark junior Kamryn Beaver stuck in her fifth goal of the season.
It was the first time the Vikings, making their first CIF finals appearance since 1995, had been scored upon this postseason.
“Me and one other girl were on the floor, and we couldn’t get up because everyone was just on top of us,” Marina senior defender Kiera Miskelly said. “Unfortunately, it went in. It wasn’t a very solid goal, but things like that happen.”
Marina answered in the 35th minute, as senior defender Riley Crosby had a deep throw-in. The ball got knocked around and eventually came back to Crosby, who lofted a perfect shot from near the left sideline, 30 yards out, into the upper corner of the net.
The goal was reminiscent of junior Sarah Sumrall’s goal at Corona del Mar in the regular-season finale, which helped the Vikings earn the Wave League title.
Marina senior forward Samantha Esparza had a good shot from the right late in the half, but Moorpark senior goalkeeper Emma Ott was able to deflect it wide.
The Coastal Canyon League champion Musketeers, who won their first CIF title since 2017, kept up the pressure in the second half, with junior Naomi Tobias serving up same dangerous crosses. But Vo and a defense led by center backs Miskelly and Erika Torrez held strong, and Marina earned its share of chances as well.
Then came the lightning stoppage.
“I’m from Ohio, so I’ve dealt with lightning storms and having to wait,” Oberle said. “I felt like most of them have not had to experience that, so it was really just trying to get them to relax and catch their breath.”
The Vikings did, but Moorpark’s relentlessness eventually paid off.
“[Barakat] realized it was in her range,” Moorpark coach Mike Alexander said. “She looked up, saw the keeper was off her line and just went for it. We just knew that someone has to be the hero in this game, and it’s going to be either one of us or one of them. I’m just very happy that she stepped up, took advantage of the opportunity and scored a great goal.”
Both teams will continue their seasons next week in the CIF State Southern California Regional playoffs.
Oberle said he told his players to use the pain of losing Saturday’s match and use it as fuel for the next round. Miskelly seemed to get the message.
“Obviously it’s not the result we wanted today, but we still have the opportunity to go make something like this happen again if we keep grinding it out,” she said. “It’s nice to know that we’re not done yet.”
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