Mustang title plans on track

Chris Yemma

Perfection in league play is a trait the Costa Mesa High girls soccer

team has gotten used to.

The Golden West League hasn’t seen a team dominate at this level

in a long while. The Mustangs have never lost in the league since

entering into it before the 2002-’03 season, and after a 9-0

shellacking of crosstown rival Estancia in league play Tuesday at

Orange Coast College, Mesa still remains perfect.

The Mustangs improved their record to 11-2, 6-0 in league and are

on pace to add a second CIF Southern Section Division III title in

three years, if all goes according to plan.

“We have the capability to go all the way,” Costa Mesa Coach Dan

Johnston said. “Whether it happens or not -- part of it’s luck, part

of it’s whatever skill we can pull together on game day, and it’s

also partly the draw you get in the tournament.”

The Mustangs have the skill portion of it locked down. Thirty

straight league wins definitely says something about your program,

but after losing in the CIF semifinals last season to Norco, Mesa is

getting some hunger pangs.

In league play, when the Mustangs get hungry, opposing teams

become the main dinner course.

Estancia (5-4-3, 1-3-1 in league) was the victim Tuesday.

Eighteen minutes into the game Costa Mesa had already forged a 3-0

lead, with goals from Kyla Flores in the third minute, Jasmin Day in

the eighth and Jenny Sparks in the 18th.

Twenty-four minutes deep it was 4-0, after Day added her second

goal, and the Mustangs finished the half with a four-goal advantage.

Little did Estancia know that four goals just didn’t quite satiate

the Mustangs, though. And five more goals later after the second

half, the Eagles walked off the field in utter disbelief.

“Unfortunately, I just don’t think our girls could keep up,”

Estancia Coach Natalie Rainey said. “There was lack of aggression,

lack of motivation; I didn’t see any heart out there today.”

Rainey, in her first season at the Eagles’ helm, has turned things

around since last season, a two-win campaign. But against such a

dominating team as the Mustangs, ranked No. 5 in Division III, gaps

in the chain bubbled to the surface.

Mesa outshot the Eagles, 32-4, on its way to nine goals and a

seventh consecutive victory. Six different players scored, including

Marina Lazos, Nilani Duarte and Caitlin Duffy in the second half.

A multi-player scoring trend has occurred throughout the season,

as Mesa continues to roll over teams while going deep down the

roster.

Aside from the talent the Mustangs possess, a portion of their

success can be attributed to a certain coaching strategy Johnston

employs -- the substitution theory.

He plays numerous players for short periods of time, and then subs

in fresher players frequently throughout the game, partly to keep the

players energized, but partly for another reason entirely.

“I want players to get in the habit of having an impact in the

game when they first step foot on the field,” Johnston said. “They

know that if they’re only going to get 10 minutes, then they better

make it worth it.”

So far, the strategy has been paying off. The Mustangs have

defeated their last seven opponents, 35-3, and are on pace to sweep

through the league undefeated, once again.

“When we get our focus, we’re as good as any team out there,”

Johnston said. “The trick is to maintain that focus against the [top

teams].”