Flavia Costea looked a little lost as she stood 12 yards away from the goal with the ball at her feet.
With the Laguna Blanca girls soccer team already up 5-0 in its first-round CIF contest against visiting Cantwell Sacred Heart, the back-up defender had started pestering coach Gregg Luna to let her in to play up front.
“She kept bugging me to go in there in the last 10 minutes and I finally gave in,” said Luna.
Kelsey Douglas embraces Flavia Costea after her penalty-kick goal late in the game.
When the Owls were fouled in the box and awarded a penalty kick, he called on the junior to take the kick. She apprehensively stepped up and put it in the back of the net as she was swarmed by teammates. The final whistle blew a few minutes later, and last year’s CIF semifinalists were a step closer to their goal.
“We’re taking it one game at a time,” said junior Kelsey Douglas. “In the big picture we want to win the whole thing, but we know that there are stepping stones along the way.”
The next stepping stone will be a road game on Wednesday at Mission Valley League champion Arroyo. Should the Owls pick up a win there, they’ll likely host top-seeded CAMS in the third round.
The scoring began early on Friday as the Owls went up 2-0 in the first 10 minutes. McKenzie Scarborough assisted Ari Rodriguez on a cross from the right side to make it 1-0, and Lauren McAllister buried from from straightaway just two minutes later.
The Cardinals didn’t get a shot off the entire first half, which may have been a relief for Douglas, who started the game at goalie due to injuries to the first and second-stringers. Fiona Jessup was able to return in the second half, however.
Erin Stone scored Laguna’s third goal in the 25th minute with a bending shot that hit the near post and spun past the Cardinal keeper.
Douglas got in on the action on a free kick from about 40 yards out midway through the second half. The long-ball isn’t a new thing for her, as she scored from beyond the center line against Thacher a couple of weeks ago.
“From playing club and soccer in general for so long I’ve always worked on free kicks, and I’ve been able to improve a lot, mostly from Luna’s yelling, I guess,” she said with a smile.
Becca Braly added the fifth goal on a chip shot from the left side before Costea put away the penalty kick. Luna said he liked the energy and commitment that the Owls (14-4-2) showed in the match.
“I told them to go into the match like they’ve been there 100 times before, and they have,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll do it in the next round as well.”
