Girls’ Soccer: Eagles share title
It will be tough to top the 2014-15 senior class for the Estancia girls’ soccer team.
Wednesday was senior day for the Eagles, who honored their five seniors — Alba Barrios, Alondra Guzman, Gianna Guyot and twins Sarah and Caitlin Leahy — before the final Orange Coast League contest against Godinez.
About 90 minutes later, Estancia claimed a dominant 4-0 victory at Jim Scott Stadium.
About 15 minutes after that, the Eagles found out they were league champions for the second time in three seasons.
Along with the win over Godinez, Estancia needed Calvary Chapel to tie Laguna Beach. There were loud screams of joy as the Estancia girls found out that Calvary Chapel and Laguna Beach played to a scoreless tie at Laguna Beach High, allowing Estancia (18-3-3, 7-1-2 in league) to tie Calvary Chapel (7-1-2 in league) for the league title with 23 points each. The Breakers (7-2-1) finished third.
“Frickin’ great,” Caitlin Leahy said when asked how it felt to earn a share of the league title, especially with the league as competitive as it has been in years.
Not only that, but Estancia earns the league’s No. 1 designation for the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs, since it earned a win and a tie against Calvary Chapel in league play.
The five seniors have a combined 19 seasons of varsity experience between them. Barrios, Guzman and the Leahy twins have been on varsity since their freshman year. Barrios, bound for Cal State Fullerton, talked proudly of creating a winning culture for the program, which has won four league titles in Coach Jessica Perry’s seven-year tenure.
“Leaving is going to be tough,” said Barrios, a team captain along with the Leahy sisters and junior defender Samantha Falasco. “But I feel like coming on as freshmen, we totally made people respect us now. Teams want to beat us, and people want to come to Estancia for girls’ soccer. I’m really proud of us for doing that. It was a battle for four years.”
Godinez (2-5-3 in league) did not mount much of a challenge offensively, as Estancia dominated possession. Since it was senior day, Guyot got the start in goal while Caitlin Leahy started at forward, a rarity for her. Leahy (two saves) moved back into goal later in the first half. Soon after that, Guyot (two saves), who also played a bit in the field, left to play in the Estancia girls’ basketball game.
“I get so nervous when I’m out there [in the field],” Caitlin Leahy said. “I’m very overwhelmed, because it’s out of my comfort zone. But I think it was fun. Everyone was cheering me on, but at the same time it was very nerve-wracking. I was really happy to go back in the goal box.”
Both of the Eagles’ first-half goals came off corner kicks. In the 28th minute, Sarah Leahy’s low corner kick deflected back to her. She crossed it back in, and Barrios was there to finish right in front of the net. Three minutes later, Guzman’s shot from 25 yards out was deflected out of bounds. The ensuing corner kick by Estancia sophomore Lindsay Avalos bounced around in the box, before Falasco stuck it in.
Sarah Leahy added a goal in the 74th minute, her third in the last two games, by volleying the ball in off a free kick by sophomore Katarina Freiberger. Two minutes later, Guzman got into the action. The Eagles’ leading scorer buried the shot cross-cage into the right corner for the fourth goal.
Junior Brandi White shined on offense and defense for Estancia, while fellow juniors Olivia Khoury and Emily Rodriguez consistently set Estancia up for scoring chances. Falasco came off a bit gimpy on her ankle late in the game, after narrowly missing another scoring chance.
The Eagles hope that Falasco will be back at full strength, along with sophomore defender Samantha Haynes (lateral collateral ligament sprain), when they play host to a Division 5 first-round playoff game on Feb. 19. They’ll find out the opponent when the brackets are released on Monday.
“If we can get those two back at full speed, that frees up a lot of other people to go into their natural positions,” said Perry, who has been battling sickness this week, in a strained voice.
Estancia knows that it will be a tough out in the playoffs. The Eagles went from being ranked No. 3 in Division 5 earlier this season to not ranked at all currently, though they own league wins over No. 7 Calvary Chapel and No. 9 Laguna Beach. Perry said her team should go back into the top 10 since Estancia won league.
But the Eagles have eight days until CIF starts, which gives them a bit of time to enjoy their most recent league title. All of the league titles in Perry’s tenure — 2009, 2011, 2013 and now 2015 — have happened in odd-numbered years.
“We never doubted our team the whole time, even though it was hard,” Sarah Leahy said. “We never doubted any of the girls. All of the girls really wanted it.”
