Mustang Girls Fall to Long Beach Wilson in Overtime

In nearly 80 minutes, the Mustang girls’ soccer team fought their way to the doorstep of the third round of the CIF playoffs, but it was a considerably shorter amount of time for them to be shown their way out.

“I’m very proud of our girls, they fought hard," said head coach Patty Perkinson. "This was a highly ranked team and we had them up until two minutes to go.” 

Leading 1-0 with 2:40 remaining in the second half, Taylor Foland delighted the home crowd with a nifty dribble move, leaving a Wilson player on the ground only to watch Foland run off some valuable time for Mira Costa.

With two minutes showing on the scoreboard, the Mustang crowds’ cheers reached their Zenith as Foland had a breakaway try, with Wilson’s Claire Oates in hot pursuit, but just missed.

Wilson gained possession and came through, with their season on the verge of ending at the feet of the Mustangs, as Sami Reinhard blasted a shot past goalie Dana Eisenhauer, sending the game to overtime.

“I was definitely watching the clock near the end, but we were committed to going hard at every ball and that paid off late,” Wilson senior Renee Mendiola said.

“I’ll admit it, I thought we had it," Eisenhauer said. "We got the ball to their end of the field toward the end and then they made a nice cross and poked it in."

In overtime, Mendiola took a pass with her back to the goal and made an excellent individual move, executing a kick to the far post to give Wilson the come-from-behind victory.

“When I got it I was going to go left, but then I went right and shot at the far post.  I was really excited,” Mendiola said.

The Mustangs scored first as Kendall Richter got the ball ahead to Mandy McKeegan who made a tremendous pass in front of the goal to Alyssa Covarrubio who put the ball past goalie Breegan Saller with 7:51 remaining in the first half.

“We have been playing better lately, we peaked at the right time," said Perkinson. "And to beat Palos Verdes to get into the playoffs then win in the first round is a great accomplishment for us."

Covarrubio tried to add to the Mustang lead, her shot narrowly missing with 2:38 to play in the half.

The intensity of the first half carried into the second, as the teams battled. A skirmish between Deanna Empleo of Wilson and Richter resulted in a yellow card for Empleo.

Wilson, who held an advantage in possession throughout the game, relied on strong midfield play and rarely relinquished the ball for any long period of time as Kim Marshall expertly patrolled the middle.

“We didn’t size-up to them, they had some taller players, but we adjusted and played smart. There was nothing we could do about that second goal,” Perkinson said.

Before the late goals, Eisenhauer had 16 saves.

“Wilson deserves a lot of credit. They fought to the very end and made two great goals late,” Eisenhauer said.

The young Mustangs (with four freshman starters) were without leading goal scorer freshman Kimby Keever who broke her foot over the weekend.

“We are really young," said Perkinson. "I think the whole unit stepped up and I’m extremely happy with the progress we made this season."