Mustangs covet CIF Division III crown

Barry Faulkner

The Costa Mesa High girls soccer team won its first CIF Southern

Section playoff game last season. This year, the Golden West League

champions are going after the ultimate prize.

Costa Mesa (18-1-2) is the No. 2 seed in Division III, after

falling in the second round of the Division IV Playoffs last year.

Coach Dan Johnston’s squad opens at home Friday at 3 p.m. against

John Glenn (9-9-2), an at-large entry from the Suburban League.

The Mustangs are the only seeded team among the five Newport-Mesa

soccer teams (boys and girls) included in the playoff pairings

announced Monday at the Southern Section office.

Pacific Coast League boys champion Corona del Mar (16-5-2) is the

only other local representative to gain a first-round home game.

Coach Pat Callaghan’s Sea Kings host El Dorado (13-6-2), the

third-place team from the Century League, Saturday at 3 p.m. in a

Division II clash.

Newport Harbor’s boys team, which finished second in the Sea View

League, is another Division II entry. The Sailors will visit Bay

League runner-up Santa Monica (16-8-0) in Saturday’s first round.

The CdM girls (10-5-2), who, for the first time in four seasons,

did not win the PCL crown, open Division II play Friday at

Southwestern League runner-up Murrieta Valley (12-5-6).

The Sage Hill School boys team (8-5-5), which finished second in

the Academy League, is scheduled to visit Camino Real League champion

St. Bernard (14-7), in the opening round of Division VI Saturday.

The Costa Mesa girls, who won the program’s first league

championship by going 12-0-0 in the seven-team circuit, are looking

for some better competition in the coming weeks.

The Mustangs have won 13 straight games and are unbeaten in their

last 18. Their only loss was to Long Beach Wilson, which finished

19-2-3 and won the Division I Moore League. Mesa’s 18 wins are three

better than the program’s previous single-season best.

Costa Mesa outscored league foes, 78-2, to up its season scoring

advantage to 98-13.

Senior Sharon Day, an All-CIF returner and four-year standout, who

is also the reigning state high jump champion, has amassed 24 goals

and 33 assists for the Mustangs.

Mesa’s explosive offense also features sophomore Jenny Sparks (25

goals and 11 assists), freshman Jasmin Day, Sharon’s sister (22 goals

and 14 assists). This trio is, however, only a portion of the

firepower the Mustangs possess.

“We’ve spread it around,” Johnston said. “We have 14 kids who have scored. Other notable contributors include sophomore Nilani Duarte

(eight goals and nine assists), sophomore Vera Gale (seven goals),

Stacy Krikorian (eight assists) and sophomore Rachel Ronquillo (seven

assists).

Kaitlyn Gentling and Kindra Bailey had shared goalkeeping duty all

season, but Gentling has missed the last couple weeks with an injury.

Johnston said she could return soon.

“I think we have as good a chance as anyone to win the whole

thing,” Johnston said.

Troy (19-0-1) is top-seeded in Division III, where No. 3 Bonita

(16-2-4) and No. 4 Walnut (15-4-4) round out the seeds.

The CdM boys shared the PCL crown with Northwood, which handed

them their only blemish in a 9-1-0 league campaign. The Sea Kings

topped the Timberwolves, 2-1, Wednesday, to earn a share of the

program’s first league title since 1994. This is CdM’s first playoff

appearance since 2000.

If the Sea Kings handle El Dorado, they would meet either No.

3-seeded Riverside Poly (19-4-3) or Murrieta Valley (11-5-8) in

Wednesday’s second round.

The CdM girls, paced by three-time All-CIF honoree Elisha Morgan,

as well as two-time All-CIF performers Paige Janes and Lauren

Shepherdson, all seniors, is anxious to see how it stacks up against

Division II competition after advancing to the Division IV semifinals

the last three seasons.

Each time, however, CdM was eliminated by a representative of the

Mission League that went on to earn at least a share of the Division

IV crown. The Mission League, however, now competes in Division I.

First-year coach Bryan Middlebrook’s squad won only one of its

last four regular-season games, but is looking for a fresh start. If

victorious Friday, CdM would meet the winner of the Canyon-Rialto

first-round clash in Tuesday’s second round. No. 3-seeded Canyon of

Canyon Country (19-1-0) is a potential quarterfinal foe, should CdM

(68-17-16 the last four seasons) get that far. Arcadia (17-0-6) and

Westlake (16-0-1) are the top two seeds, respectively, in Division

II.

The Newport Harbor boys are hoping to mirror their first-round

success of a year ago. The Sailors knocked off Santa Ana Valley, 2-0,

to open last year’s postseason, before falling, 4-0, to eventual

Division II champion Los Alamitos in the second round.

The Tars went into the Sea View League finale with Woodbridge

needing a win to pull even with the Warriors and share the league

title. But a 2-2 tie forced Newport Harbor to settle for second.

With a win Saturday, Newport would meet the St. Francis-Agoura

winner in Wednesday’s second round. Loyola (18-1-5) and Santa Barbara

(21-2-2) are the top two seeds, respectively, in Division II.

Woodbridge (15-1-3) is seeded No. 4.

Sage Hill is looking for the first playoff win in the program’s

young history. If the Lightning gets that win against St. Bernard, it

would face the Santa Clarita Christian-Oak Park winner in Wednesday’s

second round.