Andersen victory much controlled

Rick Devereux

The sun beamed down on the Costa Mesa Farm Sports Complex fields for

opening day of the fifth annual Daily Pilot Cup soccer tournament as

Andersen defeated Davis in the girls fifth- and sixth-grade gold

division, 6-0. The near-perfect conditions were matched by

near-perfect ball control by the two-time defending champion

Dolphins.

Hailey Raguse opened up the scoring by controlling the loose ball

in front of the goal and depositing it into the back of the net

midway through the first half. Moments later Mackenzie Brown drove

down the left side of the field and lofted a centering pass over the

hustling defenders for Davis. Kelly Feeley collected the pass and

rifled the ball inside the right post for a 2-0 lead going into

halftime.

Andersen pressed the ball hard to start the second half, which

resulted in a quick goal by Azadeh Nazemi. Jordan Dillion added to

the lead with her long goal from outside the penalty box. Sarah

Craig, who had a first-half goal disallowed due to offsides, ran down

the right side and fed an attacking Lindsey Luke, the goaltender in

the first half, who blasted a shot to the left side of the net. Anna

Venturini scored the final goal for Andersen with about 10 minutes

remaining.

Andersen Coach Linda Craig said her team played, “strong, with

good passing and good defense.”

The ball control, which Craig said was the key to the game, was so

dominant for Andersen that the only time a Dolphin goaltender touched

the ball was when a teammate passed it to Luke in the first half.

“We’ve got a great group of girls,” Andersen assistant coach Jeff

Rome said. “They play almost like they do at recess. It’s fun.”

Davis put out a valiant effort throughout the game, never giving

up and always playing hard, but Andersen’s chemistry and experience

was a vital advantage.

“I think our girls played very well,” Davis Coach Michelle Strodel

said. “Especially when you consider that about half of our girls have

never played before. I just wanted them to go out and have fun and I

think they all did.”