Laguna Blanca’s girls soccer team pulled off a stunner at home on Thursday, knocking off top-seeded Animo Leadership Academy 2-1 to advance to the semifinals of the CIF Division-VII playoffs.
“Right now the girls are flying high,” said coach Gregg Luna. “We’re not calling it a team of destiny yet, but they certainly play with a lot of ‘corazon’.”
Playing with heart is something that Luna was reminded of when he visited with local soccer-guru Rudy Ybarra at Santa Barbara High after the first round of Condor League play this season. Ybarra was a member of the Dons’ first boys soccer CIF title-team in 1975, and was the coach of Santa Barbara’s championship team in 1995.
“I sat with him and he just gave me enlightenment for about an hour-and-a-half,” said Luna. “We went over so many different formations and attacking schemes, and it’s all been different since. He told me I had to tell the girls to play with ‘corazon’.”
Animo came into the game having outscored opponents 11-0 in the first two rounds, and the Aztecs dominated the first five minutes according to Luna. But Becca Braly and Ari Rodriguez began to put serious pressure on the Aztec defense and junior Erin Stone took over in the middle as the Owls settled in.
Nikki Byrne made some big saves to ease the Laguna defense, and Stone got the Owls on the board first about midway through the first half, launching a 25-yarder into the upper-left corner.
“There was nothing the goalie could do about it,” said Luna. “And after that, you could tell that Animo wasn’t used to being behind.”
The Aztecs got the equalizer with 20 minutes to go in regulation, when one of their forwards sent in a cross that ricocheted off of an Owl defender and into the net. That’s when Stone took over and opened things up on the outside. Lauren McCallister centered the ball with about five minutes left, and freshman-sensation Braly came out of nowhere to knock it in.
This year’s Owls team continues to add to its resume as the school’s best ever. It is the first squad to ever beat rivals Thacher and Cate in the same year. In fact, this year’s team was the first to make it through the Condor League without a loss, tying the Toads once in a 7-0-1 campaign. No Laguna team had ever made the quarterfinals, and now the Owls find themselves prepping for Tuesday’s semifinal match against Vasquez.
Braly has been a big part of the historic run, scoring in the last seven games for the Owls.
The next game will be at Laguna Blanca on Tuesday afternoon.
