Sadie Hoch records hat trick, leads Kaiser girls’ soccer over Harbor Day in Daily Pilot Cup quarterfinals

Tisha Hoch has played on the biggest stages that women’s soccer has to offer.

She won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 in Atlanta, and she was also part of the U.S women’s national team that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1999.

So what could possibly make Hoch nervous?

Try coaching elementary school children in the Daily Pilot Cup youth soccer tournament. Hoch is the head coach of the Costa Mesa Kaiser Elementary girls’ fifth- and sixth-grade Gold Division team.

“It’s much harder to coach because you don’t have control,” Hoch said. “When you’re out there, you can impose your will on the game physically.”

Hoch has seen enough action that she knows which leads are safe and which ones are precarious. When her team was leading 2-0, she hoped that her team would score again to take the edge off.

While Corona del Mar Harbor Day would score the next goal, Kaiser was able to make the lead stand up.

Sadie Hoch had a hat trick, and Kaiser defeated Harbor Day 5-1 on Saturday morning in a girls’ fifth- and sixth-grade Gold Division quarterfinal at Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex.

“My team, they’re just so good, and they play hard, and they play for each other,” Tisha Hoch said. “That’s kind of the key. They’re tactically sound. They know what to do, which is huge in this tournament.

“We’re not just trying to kick it long and run after it. We’re trying to play the ball and get it wide and combine [passes].”

Kaiser will oppose Corona del Mar Lincoln Elementary in a Gold Division semifinal match on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The match will be played on Field 3 at Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex.

The engine that made the Kaiser offense go was left striker Lily Achak, who was able to forcefully push the ball down the field into the attacking third. Kaiser peppered the Harbor Day net with 16 shots on goal.

Kaiser scored goals one minute apart in the first half. Bridget Taketa found Sadie Hoch on a cross from the right side to open the scoring in the 14^th minute.

Achak took a long-range shot that led to Kaiser’s second goal, as Audrey Herron pounced on the rebound to score.

Harbor Day cut its deficit in half right before the break. Keaton Kessler scored after Nicole Thorp sent a corner kick into a crowd of players in front of the Kaiser goal.

Center back Fiona Rowe played a big role in keeping Harbor Day in the game, putting pressure on the Kaiser attackers and causing them to send several shots wide of their intended target.

“Fiona Rowe is the anchor for the entire team,” Harbor Day coach Steve Thorp said. “She is an incredible soccer player, an amazing girl and a great leader. Her team always respects her and relies on her, as they did throughout the last three seasons of Pilot Cup.”

Kessler came close to tying the score in the 40^th minute, but Kaiser goalkeeper Audrey Burns came up with a finger-tip save as she was diving to her left.

Kaiser looked like a team on a mission, and for Burns, there is only one way to describe the team.

“It’s like the dream team,” Burns said. “We’re just trying to bring it home for Kaiser.”

Charlotte Warmington made nine saves for Harbor Day.

Right back Sadie Simon then blocked a Harbor Day shot headed toward the left side of the net following a corner kick in the 41^st minute.

Evie Harlan spotted up in front of the goal to give Kaiser a 3-1 lead in the 44^th minute.

Hoch scored twice late to complete her hat-trick, including a 30-yard aerial strike in the 58^th minute.

Having never won the Daily Pilot Cup before, the younger Hoch wants to get it done this year.

“It’s going to take all of our fans and all of our team to win,” Hoch said. “We just need their support, and if our team keeps playing like this, nobody will be able to beat us.”

Asked if her mom has coached her up at all on giving interviews, Hoch sheepishly replied, “Oh my. Not much. I just watch them on TV, and I’m not very good at them.”

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andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner