Girls’ Soccer: Oilers ready for rematch
The Huntington Beach High girls’ soccer team has adapted a road warrior type of mentality so far in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I playoffs.
As the No. 8-seeded team in the eight-team draw, the Oilers have to play every game on the road.
They traveled to San Diego for their first-round 3-0 upset win over top-seeded Torrey Pines on Tuesday. Two days later, they headed north to Fresno and beat No. 4-seeded Bullard, 6-0.
Saturday will be another day of travel, but not as far, just to south Orange County. The Oilers will play at No. 2-seeded JSerra in the Division I title match at 4 p.m.
It’s a rematch of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal that JSerra won, 2-1, at the Oilers’ field on Feb. 28. The Lions were on their way to their first Southern Section Division 1 title, beating Trinity League rival Mater Dei on penalty kicks in the final.
On Saturday, both the Oilers and the Lions will appear in their first Southern California regional title game.
“I think they’re a great program,” Huntington Beach Coach Raul Ruiz said. “They’re well-coached, and they have a great style of play. But I think we learned the first time we played them, and now we’re going with no fear into a great final. We look forward to that game, that opportunity.”
The Oilers (20-8-7) hope for one more upset win to end their historic season. They have yet to allow a goal in the SoCal Regionals, with senior goalie Rachel Harris and the back line of Katie Martinez, Brianna Barnes, Kekoa Nelson and Bianca Maccabi coming up big.
On offense, different players have stepped up at different times, with six goal scorers in the victory at Bullard. Freshmen like Xolani Hodel, Summer Stewart and Makenna McGill have been catalysts for the Oilers. They will challenge a JSerra defense that has allowed exactly one goal in each of the Lions’ seven postseason matches.
JSerra (22-1-3) boasts Orange County’s leading goal scorer in sophomore Isabella D’Aquila, who had a hat trick in Thursday’s 5-1 semifinal win over Granada Hills Charter. D’Aqilia has scored at least once in every JSerra playoff game this season, and now has 34 goals this season.
Harris and Hodel have double duty on Saturday, as they’ll also play for the Huntington Beach girls’ basketball team that night. The Oilers girls’ hoops squad plays at Mater Dei in the second round of the CIF State SoCal Regional Division II playoffs at 7 p.m.
But first, Harris and Hodel will try to bring a regional title to the girls’ soccer team. Huntington Beach expects to be fired up for the rematch, Barnes said.
Again, she harkened back to that “road warrior” mentality.
“To be honest, we play better away,” Barnes said. “We’re definitely excited to play at their home. They beat us at our home, so [we hope to] beat them at theirs.”
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