Costa Mesa girls' soccer clinches second straight outright league title after draw with Estancia

Costa Mesa's Isabelle Whittaker (10) and Brianna Calderon (15) celebrate with Itzel Ramirez (2) after Ramirez scored a goal against Estancia in the 30th minute of an Orange Coast League match on Thursday at Jim Scott Stadium.

By Matt SzaboStaff Writer

Feb. 6, 2020 8:11 PM PT

Vanessa Carrillo was very nervous prior to kickoff.

The Costa Mesa High senior was about to play the final Orange Coast League girls’ soccer match of a sparkling four-year varsity career. The Mustangs came into Thursday’s match at rival Estancia already with a share of the league title, but they needed a win or a tie to avoid sharing it with the Eagles.

Carrillo, the Mustangs’ center back, was “a wreck,” Costa Mesa coach Jason Boyce said. She soon gained some clarity.

“I thought about the team, everything we worked together for,” she said. “Just to have fun was the main thing I wanted to do. It’s my senior year, so I wanted to just give it my best.”

The Eagles did not score in the run of play. Carrillo and her teammates earned a 1-1 tie, which was good enough to win the Battle for the Bell series and clinch their second straight outright league title.

Costa Mesa's Itzel Ramirez (2) and Estancia's Kenna Cowie (8) battle for the ball during an Orange Coast League match on Thursday.

Costa Mesa, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 poll, finished the regular season 12-6-2 overall and 8-0-2 in league play. They had 26 points in the league, three more than second-place Estancia (9-6-3, 7-1-2). Boyce said the Mustangs are ready to build on last year’s season, which included a run to the Division 5 semifinals.

“I feel very humbled by the accomplishments that these girls have strung together,” Boyce said. “They overcame some of the stuff that traditionally they would do, and that’s defeat themselves. They work together, they play a good style. I’m just very happy, and we have some unfinished business to attend to. We don’t want to just go further in CIF. We want to win [the section title for the first time since 2003], and we feel like we have the players to do it, the bench to do it and mainly just the team to do it.”

Costa Mesa had to play from behind against Estancia, just like in the teams’ first meeting, a 2-1 comeback win by the Mustangs on Jan. 14. On Thursday, the Eagles struck off a left-footed corner kick from the right by senior captain Desiree Mendoza in the 23rd minute.

Costa Mesa junior goalkeeper Aubrey Hallman jumped and was able to deflect Mendoza’s blast into the box, but it went off her fingers and into the net.

“Our keeper got fouled,” Boyce said. “She hit the ball, and she was off-balance for that. The girl pushed her. She got bumped, and she tried to catch it. I said, ‘Next time, punch,’ and she punched it [in the second half]. I was very proud of her and the rest of the team.”

Costa Mesa still got the equalizer in the 30th minute, on freshman phenom Itzel Ramirez’s 22nd goal of the season. It was a hard-struck blast from about 25 yards out.

The teams played even in the second half, with Estancia bringing senior Wendy Milan up to try to score the match-winning goal. Eagles coach Josh Juarez, whose team will also compete in the Division 4 playoffs, said he pulled a defender to get another forward into the mix in the final 15 minutes.

Estancia's Britnay Vallejo (18) leaps past Costa Mesa's Daisy Carrillo (15) during an Orange Coast League match on Thursday.

But the Costa Mesa back line, which included junior Jazmin Lopez and sophomore Daisy Carrillo, was too tough to crack.

“I’m proud of the way we finished that game,” Juarez said. “Costa Mesa didn’t break. We just kept pushing and pushing, and they didn’t budge ... We just couldn’t break through that defense.”

Defense has been a key part of the Mustangs’ success. They allowed seven goals in 10 league matches, and more than one goal just once, a 2-2 draw against Santa Ana on Jan. 21.

Vanessa Carrillo celebrated after the match, along with other four-year varsity players like forwards Natalia Guzman and Lani Whittaker, as well as midfielder Saharai Aguilar.

“We work as a team together well,” Guzman said. “We’ve earned it ... Now we’re taking it all. That’s just our No. 1 goal. We’re taking CIF this year.”