Newport Harbor girls’ soccer rallies for Battle of the Bay tie with rival Corona del Mar
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A beautiful goal put the Newport Harbor High girls’ soccer team on its heels Thursday afternoon in the Battle of the Bay rivalry match against Corona del Mar.
CdM sophomore defender Maddie Oppegard launched a long cross from the right. Her sophomore teammate Ella Olsen headed it in near the far post.
In an instant, the Sailors found themselves down two goals early in the second half. Coach Justin Schroeder tried to calm his team on the sidelines.
“We’ve been here before,” he said to his players. “No panic.”
A relentless Newport Harbor attack followed. Junior Maddy Michel and sophomore Scarlett Guyser scored second-half goals, as the Sailors and Sea Kings battled to a 2-2 tie in the Sunset League match.
The Newport Harbor streak is safe; the Sailors are 8-0-4 in their past 12 matches against rival CdM.
Still, it was the young Sea Kings (8-5-3, 0-3-1 in league), who have just two seniors on their roster, who were the more aggressive side early. CdM took the early lead in the fifth minute, when junior Kyndall Edwards scored on sophomore Addi Stern’s assist.
CdM coach Bryan Middleton said his team matched the Sailors with a 3-4-3 formation.
“Everyone thought we were going to play defense and try to just counter, but we wanted to be the more offensive team today and go at them,” Middleton said. “It paid off in the first half.”
After Olsen’s header goal, though, the Sailors (9-5-2, 1-1-1) upped the intensity. They came back from a two-goal deficit for the second time in league, as they turned a 3-1 halftime deficit in the Sunset League opener at Los Alamitos on Jan. 6 into a 4-3 win.
Michel, one of three starting defenders for Newport along with fellow juniors Leah Showalter and Caroline Harner, scored off a scrum in the box in the 52nd minute following Mia Knox’s corner kick.
“I think we were all scared, honestly, when they got up,” Michel said after the game. “It was kind of like, ‘Whoa, this hasn’t happened ever really.’ We knew what we were coming into, but I think once we got into the game and knew they were going to bring it … we needed to get it going.”
Guyser, the starting quarterback for the Sailors girls’ flag football team, made her mark on the soccer pitch by scoring the equalizer. She flicked a header in the box and it spun past CdM junior goalkeeper November Firey, who was solid all game long despite constant ribbing from Newport Harbor boys sitting along the sideline.
CdM’s best chance late in regulation came when Edwards got the ball in space in a one-on-one situation, but Showalter was able to knock it out of bounds.
The Sailors had the better of the opportunities in two 10-minute overtime periods, but neither team could score, leaving the tie as the final result.
The scrappy Sea Kings, who Middleton said lost versatile senior Alex Cross to a knee injury in the second half, would take the result. They’ve played the top four teams in the league standings — Huntington Beach, defending champion Los Alamitos, Edison and Newport Harbor — as their first four opponents.
“I feel like we really gave it our all,” CdM junior center back and team captain Ellie Kosoff said. “Even though we tied, I would consider it a win.”
CdM has a needed bye on Tuesday, before closing out league play at Marina on Jan. 22 and at home against Fountain Valley on Jan. 27.
Newport Harbor plays at Marina on Tuesday, and is home against Fountain Valley on Jan. 22 and Huntington Beach on Jan. 27.
The three-game league tournament follows.
In other Sunset League action:
Edison 4, Marina 0: Ayla Khoshkbariie’s hat trick lifted the Chargers over the Vikings on Thursday at Edison High.
Edison moved into a first-place tie with idle Huntington Beach, as both teams are 3-0 in league.
Khoshkbariie’s three goals came off a Marissa Devine assist and two free kicks. Hayven Medeiros-Schomberg completed the scoring for Edison, assisted by Jaylen Maroney.
Marina fell to 0-3-1 in league.
Los Alamitos 4, Fountain Valley 1: The host Barons dropped to 0-2-1 in league after Thursday’s setback.
