It’s going to be a tough task for the Laguna Blanca girls soccer team to repeat last year’s stellar run to the CIF semifinals, but the Owls got off on the right foot Wednesday with a season-opening Condor League win at Midland, 5-1.
The Oaks joined the league for girls soccer just this year, causing schedules to be a bit jumbled and the conference match to be the opener.
Laguna was up 3-0 at halftime. Fiona Jessup struck first with a goal from 25-yards out about 20 minutes into the first half, and Becca Braly and McKenzie Scarborough added scores of their own before the intermission. Ari Rodriuguez, whom coach Gregg Luna said played an outstanding all-around match, got in on the action with a goal 15 minutes into the second half but had to leave the game with an ankle sprain shortly after.
Elise Schuerman scored the Owls’ fifth goal, and the Oaks avoided the shutout by scoring with about 10 minutes to go.
“They’re a tough little team. They’re going to give the Condor League a tough time,” said Luna.
The Owls, meanwhile, return the vast majority of players from last year’s team but are not looking too far ahead.
“We’re gonna take it step-by-step. Our players know that for us to go that far again we need to take it one game at a time. We look okay so far, but we are keeping our expectations realistic,” said Luna, who also highlighted the play of captains Erin Stone and Kelsey Douglas.
The Owls have four games over the next five days, beginning with Thursday’s matchup against San Gabriel Mission at the Grace Brethren Tournament.
