Capistrano Valley Shuts Out Hart

Capistrano Valley’s defense held off Newhall Hart long enough to give the offense time to score as the top-seeded Cougars advanced to the Southern Section Division I girls’ soccer final with a 2-0 victory Tuesday at Capistrano Valley.

The Cougar defense had its hands full early when Hart pounded goalkeeper Haley Kuhn with four quick shots.

The first shot was knocked down by Kuhn, and the rebound was kicked out by senior Kim Abbamonto. Then another rebound and another shot--although this one went off the side post. And one final rebound shot missed crossing the goal line by inches when junior defender Jessica Krause blasted it out.

“My stomach was in my throat on that one,” Capistrano Valley Coach Jack Peterson said. “We were a little gunshy at first. We played a little bit flat.”

Hart’s early exchange of shots woke up Capistrano Valley (25-0-4), and the Cougars began to take control of the game, outshooting fourth-seeded Hart, 16-5, in the first half. Freshman goalkeeper Cossandra Kaeding recorded seven first-half saves.

Sophomore forward Lindsay Greco and junior forward Chandra King, the Cougars’ leading scorers, blazed past defenders numerous times, but were unable to get the ball past Kaeding.

It was freshman midfielder Kristen Moore who gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead 31 minutes into the game. Junior midfielder Tiffany Landgraff went between two defenders in the center of the field and passed to Moore on the corner of the goal. Moore took the ball and sliced it into the far corner of the net past Kaeding.

“[Hart] probably hasn’t played too many teams with our speed and fitness,” said Peterson, who kept his team fresh with constant substitution. “They kept battling, but they had to resort to a little kick ball.”

Landgraff, along with her assist to Moore, had the toughest assignment of the day, marking junior Erin Misaki, the Indians’ leading scorer with 19 goals. Misaki, a member of the Olympic Development under-16 national team, was held to one shot.

“Tiffany is the person we put on the go-to player,” Peterson said. “She was phenomenal.”

Unfortunately for Hart (22-3-3), Capistrano Valley has a number of go-to players.

In the other Division I semifinal:

Mission Viejo 1, Simi Valley 0--Freshman Kendal Billingsley scored the game’s only goal in the first half on a crossing pass from Jen Mescher and Hannah Cochrun made it stand up as Mission Viejo (20-3-4) advanced to the Division I championship game.

Cochrun made two saves to earn her 16th shutout of the season.