By Andrew Fasano
Bradley Hofmeister
Staff Writers
“Clear it!” demanded the Mustangs’ freshman goalkeeper Ashley Naylor before making a decisive save in the dying minutes of the game.
Mira Costa’s girls soccer team defeated South Torrance High School, 1-0, at Waller Stadium on Wednesday. Naylor was able to keep the Mustangs in the game by tallying 10 saves throughout the game, helping to secure the win.
Website: The Mira Costa girls soccer schedule.
“We communicated really well the whole game,” Naylor said. “Our communication was especially good in their half because it kept our defense organized, allowing us to really hold our ground and sneak away with a win.”
Photos; Mira Costa girls soccer defeats South Torrance High School.
In the closing minutes of the game, the Mustangs gave up a free kick 30 yards out of the box. The ball deflected off a Spartan forward, and Naylor was able to keep the Mustangs in the game with an acrobatic save over the crossbar.
“It was really our defense that did an amazing job keeping South off the scoreboard,” Naylor said. “I was just fortunate enough to deny the Spartans one of their more critical chances to score, which helped us get the win.”
Video: The Mustangs rally to defeat the South Torrance Spartans 1-0.
Senior midfielder Whitney Davis was able to find the back of the net in the final minutes of the second half, giving Costa a 1-0 lead. She was assisted by freshman forward Rachel Rosen, who found Davis on a through ball, breaking down the Spartan defense.
“I think we did a great job connecting on the ground and moving for each other,” Davis said. “We kept fighting throughout the game, so scoring in the end showed how our hard work had paid off.”
In the final minutes of the game, Rosen dribbled down the line and crossed the ball, hoping a teammate could find the back of the net for the game-winning goal. Rosen said that the ball took a lucky bounce off of a defender and landed in Davis’ path for her to put it away.
Website: The Mira Costa girls soccer team’s website
“The whole team knew we had to pick it up toward the end of the game if we were hoping to win,” Rosen said. “I was just doing my role by getting the ball to the endline and finding a player in the middle. Fortunately, Whitney was able to find the end of my pass and brilliantly find the back of the net, leading us to victory.”
The Mustangs, now 6-1-1 overall, will play against Torrance High School tomorrow at West Torrance in the South Holiday Tournament. The team is determined to win its next couple of games in the South Holiday Tournament to make up for a difficult 1-0 loss to North Torrance Saturday, junior defender Jamie Averch said.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to find a rhythm in our game against North Torrance,” Averch said. “As a team, we are hoping to bounce back and improve our depth in our remaining games in preparation for more important games in the remainder of the season.”
Photos: Mira Costa Varsity girls soccer beat out South High School with a final score of 1-0.
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