Girls’ Soccer: Northwood’s Solaru hurts CdM

The game plan for the Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer team Tuesday was pretty clear.

Playing against a fast and aggressive Northwood side, Coach Bryan Middleton wanted his team to play good defense, counterattack and use set pieces to create goal-scoring opportunities. After the Pacific Coast League game ended, Middleton estimated that it worked about 90% of the time.

Northwood senior striker Danielle Solaru was there to punish the Sea Kings when it didn’t.

Solaru scored two second-half goals and the Timberwolves won, 2-0, at CdM to maintain outright first place halfway through the league schedule.

Defending league champion Northwood improved to 8-4-5, 4-0-1 in league. CdM, which had won four straight league titles before the Timberwolves claimed the crown last season, fell to 6-6-6, 1-2-2 in league.

The Sea Kings are tied for fourth with Woodbridge, also behind Beckman (3-1-1 in league) and University (2-2-1). CdM plays host to Woodbridge on Thursday, a game that looms large, especially since the teams tied in their first league meeting.

“You want to get the head-to-head [tiebreaker],” Middleton said.

CdM also wanted to stop Solaru but had a tough time, as she notched her 18th and 19th goals of the season. The first one came in the 49th minute, after the defender fell down. Solaru, in the left side of the box, booted it past keeper Kat Hess (seven saves) and into the right corner.

Solaru struck again in the 75th minute for Northwood, which is tied for 10th in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 rankings. After teammate Jessica Hyman played the ball low into the box from the right side, Solaru ran in and got a good touch on it, redirecting it into the goal.

“Obviously, you can tell she’s a Division 1 player next year,” Middleton said of Solaru, who has committed to Auburn, where her older sister Samantha plays. “She made the most of the two opportunities that she had there. Besides that, she really didn’t have a goal-scoring opportunity. But a lot of players, they might have eight tries and they score nothing. She gets two and she puts two away. That’s when you can tell she’s a pure goal-scorer.”

CdM also had chances to score goals. Early in the second half, the Sea Kings put pressure on the Timberwolves with three corner kicks from Leah Givant. The second one was headed twice in the box before it was cleared. The third, which was played back in by sophomore Julie Bartz, led to a shot from freshman Katharine Caston that hit off the crossbar.

As always, Caston, Bartz, senior Ally Doherty, junior Christina Venturini and junior Hailey Neumann were solid on the back line for CdM. Middleton had Caston marking Solaru much of the game, while Doherty was on Chinyere Chambers, another of Northwood’s dangerous forwards.

Neumann, who verbally committed to play at the University of Michigan over the weekend, said it was just little mistakes that hurt the Sea Kings. But she is happy with the improvement of the team overall.

“We started out a little rough, but we’re definitely improving and playing more intense for the big games,” she said. “We’re doing well and going forward, which is good.”

Solaru literally tried to stop Neumann from going forward in the closing minutes after Neumann got a steal. Solaru argued when a foul was called on her and picked up a yellow card, but it was a rare mistake for the senior striker.

CdM can’t afford too many mistakes in the second half of league, if it wants to make the postseason for the 13th time in Middleton’s 14 seasons. Only the top three teams in league are guaranteed berths.

“I’m not going to say they’re going to run away with league, but they’re sitting above everyone right now,” Middleton said of the Timberwolves. “You’re driving for that second- or third-place spot.”