Sports
Corona del Mar Edges Brea Olinda, 1-0, in Girls Soccer Playoff Opener
Maddie O'Connor's second-half goal is all the Sea Queens need to advance to meet Los Alamitos in second round of CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs.
A second-half goal by sophomore Maddie O'Connor was enough to give Corona del Mar a 1-0 victory over Brea Olinda in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division I girls soccer playoffs Thursday afternoon at Corona del Mar High.
About five minutes into the second half, O’Connor took a pass at the top of the goal box and made a couple of moves to find some room between three defenders and lobbed a short shot over the goalkeeper’s head and just under the goal post. The Sea Queens had controlled the ball for much of the game but could not find the back of the net on several previous chances.
Despite the effectiveness of their attack, the Sea Queens nearly fell behind about three minutes before O’Connor’s goal when the Wildcats got the ball in to open space on the right side of the goal. A low shot to the short side was deflected back of the goal on a kick save by goalie Lindsey Luke.
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Corona del Mar coach Bryan Middleton said his team seemed to have some playoff jitters in the early minutes of both halves, but otherwise played their game.
“Once we calmed down and settled down into our game of keeping possession and passing the ball around, we had multiple opportunities,” he said.
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In the sixth minute of the game, the Sea Queens got their first solid scoring opportunity when Annie Alvarado sent a through pass to Allyson Brahs just to the right of the goal post. Brahs pushed the ball up for a close-range shot from the angle, but it went across the goal and wide left.
Brahs also had a chance at minutes 18 and 26 of the first half. Her chip shot off a centering pass from O’Connor went just high. Later, her shot from the left side was deflected by the goalkeeper and hit the left post before bouncing back into the goalie's hands.
In the second half, sophomore midfielder Alexa Mamatas followed a pass up the right side, but her shot on goal sailed high. The Wildcats pressed to tie the score late and had another key chance at the 66th minute when a shot on goal was knocked down by Luke. The rebound was chipped out of a crowd but sailed wide.
The Sea Queens will face Los Alamitos, a 2-1 winner over Chaminade, in the second round on Tuesday, with the home team being decided by a coin flip on Friday.
