Mustangs battle for CIF Div. III championship

Barry Faulkner

Though the combatants in tonight’s CIF Southern Section Division III

girls soccer title game share many similarities, it is the

differences between Costa Mesa High and Walnut that figure to produce

an intriguing matchup.

The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton.

Mesa (22-1-2), the No. 2 seed, has ridden a prolific offense to

the most successful season in the program’s 13-year existence. It is

the first CIF title match for the Mustangs, who captured the

program’s lone previous playoff victory last year in Division IV.

This year’s Golden West League title was the program’s first league

crown.

Walnut (19-4-5), the No. 4 seed, has relied most heavily on a

strong defense. Also nicknamed the Mustangs, they are making their

first appearance in a CIF final, but have been to the semifinals once

and have made several trips to the quarterfinals. They have won five

straight league titles, four in the Baseline League before dominating

the San Antonio League this season.

Mesa and Walnut have three common opponents, most notably Bonita,

which Costa Mesa topped, 2-1 in Tuesday’s semifinal. Walnut tied the

Bearcats twice, with identical 1-1 scores.

Walnut’s playoff run includes a 1-0 first-round win over Kennedy,

a team Mesa tied, 1-1, as well as a 2-1 semifinal win over Orange

Lutheran, which Mesa topped, 4-1, in early December.

Costa Mesa’s firepower is keyed by senior four-year standout

Sharon Day, an All-CIF performer a year ago, who leads the Golden

West League champions in goals (29) and assists (34). The reigning

state high jump champion, who plans to compete in track and field, as

well as soccer at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has six goals and three

assists in four playoff contests this season. A midfielder, her

career output as a prep is a staggering 83 goals and 71 assists.

“Sharon is the one who makes us go,” Mesa Coach Dan Johnston said.

The Mustangs’ unselfish and well-orchestrated passing game has

also helped sophomore forward Jenny Sparks and freshman forward

Jasmin Day, Sharon’s sister, be extremely productive. Sparks has four

of her 27 goals in the playoffs and has added three postseason

assists to bring her total to 14.

Jasmin Day, whom her teammates call Jazzy, has 24 goals, three in

three playoff games (she sat out a second-round win with a sore

ankle) and 14 assists this season.

“We know we can score goals in bunches, as long as we play our

game,” Johnston, in his 11th year at the helm, said.

It took the Mustangs most of the first half to settle into any

offensive flow against Bonita, a lull Johnston attributed to

postseason nerves.

“A few years ago, our nervous game was the last game of league,”

Johnston said. “Any time a game counts for something, there is

potential for nerves.”

With the aforementioned trio combining for 80 goals and 62

assists, Mesa, averaging 4.2 goals per game, has outscored its

opposition, 105-15, this season, including single-game outputs of 10,

nine (three times), eight (twice), seven and six (three times). The

Mustangs, unbeaten in their last 22 games and on a 17-game winning

streak, have scored fewer than two goals only three times, including

only one shutout.

Costa Mesa’s defense, anchored by senior sweeper Devin Denman,

another four-year varsity performer who shares captain duties with

Sharon Day, has been unheralded, but extremely solid.

The five-player back line has also been keyed by junior fullback

Stacy Krikorian, while junior stopper Valerie Gomez, junior fullback

Kara Jenkins, senior fullback Nelly Barrios and sophomore Nilani

Duarte, have helped minimize chances faced by the goalie tandem of

sophomore Kindra Bailey and junior Kaitlyn Gentling.

Mesa has posted a school-record 13 shutouts this season and has

allowed only one goal in nine other contests. Only three opposing

teams have scored more than one goal and none have scored more than

two.

Bailey played the entire way against Bonita, as well as a 3-0

second-round win at Santa Monica. She shared time with Gentling the

other two playoff wins.

Johnston said he has supreme confidence in both goalies and he

will not decide on how to distribute their minutes until today.

In addition to Sharon Day, the midfield rotation has included

senior Kristen Bagwell, sophomore Rachel Ronquillo, senior Toshia

Bryant, as well as juniors Rachel Hughes and Sara Bryant.

Sophomore Vera Gale has also provided a spark up front, while

junior Julie Nomura and sophomore Laura Dinsdale have contributed to

what Johnston terms the most complete team he has ever coached.

Walnut, which has a pair of All-CIF returners in senior Courtney

Saldivar and sophomore Janessa Currier (both third-team picks in

Division II last season), has allowed just one playoff goal and just

four goals during its current 14-game unbeaten streak.

Coach Scott DeGraff, a walk-on in his 17th year at the helm, moved

Saldivar from fullback to stopper this season and shifted Currier

from sweeper to center midfielder.

Mustangs assistant coach Lorraine Hansen said freshman Katie

Rorabaugh has been a stalwart on the back line, as has sophomore

fullback Lisa Soliz, who may be the team’s must trusted marking back.

Walnut has 15 shutouts this season and has yielded one goal in 11

other contests. Only St. Lucy’s and Diamond Bar managed two goals

against the Mustangs.

The Walnut offense, triggered by assist leader Cristina Carriaga,

a sophomore forward, and scoring leader Nikki Becker, a senior

forward, has had some trouble finishing, Hansen said.

Hansen estimated Becker had about a dozen goals, roughly 20% of

the team’s 61-goal output. The Mustangs have been shut out four

times, including a scoreless quarterfinal tie with South Torrance

(they advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3). They have scored only once in

10 other games and have scored more than three only five times (a

single-game high of 9, as well as four five-goal games).

Junior midfielder Rilesha Haynie also helps create offensive

chances with her strong throw-in, Hansen said.

Overtime is not played in CIF title games. If the game is tied at

the end of regulation, the two teams are declared co-champions.