With a new girls’ soccer season on the horizon at San Marino High, the Titans got off on the right foot hosting Westridge.
Against the visiting Tigers, San Marino scored early and often on the way to a 7-1 victory in the host’s season opener on Nov. 28.
“We couldn’t ask for a better start,” San Marino coach Jaime Acuna said. “I think the girls were excited to come out and play, and it showed that they were on the front foot, just eager to dominate.”
San Marino got on the board quickly with a goal in the fourth minute by Makayla Tokuchi. The sophomore got the ball on the right side of the field from a long outlet pass from the back. She moved toward the goal and cut the ball across the box with a dribble to open space before blasting it into the back of the net for the first goal of the Titans’ new season.
“It kind of happened fast,” Tokuchi said. “We were all excited to start it off so we found each other passing, we broke the line and we just took it to goal.”
Tokuchi struck again in the 14th minute to net the second goal of the new campaign. The sophomore pressed the defense for Westridge (2-1 overall) as the Tigers tried to clear the ball out and stole it in the box before quickly putting it away from close range for a 2-0 advantage.
The Titan pressure up front paid dividends again in the 16th minute. As the Tigers tried to play out of the back on a goal kick, Tokuchi applied pressure on the right, forcing an errant touch that allowed Titan sophomore Leah Smith to push in from the left side, get to the ball and score from close range for a 3-0 lead.
In the 23rd minute, Titan Madison No got the ball on the left flank following a throw in. The sophomore dribbled down the sideline before uncorking a shot from some distance that slid all the way into the goal, hugging the turf, to push the advantage to 4-0, which would be the score at half.
No also scored the first goal after the break, coming in the 49th minute. Streaking down the left side of the pitch, she crossed over her defender with her dribble and then put it away to make it a 5-0 cushion.
“I got the ball, I took it up, I was running,” No said. “This girl was closing me off and I cut in and I scored on the far right.”
The contest was 6-0 in favor of the hosts in the 69th minute courtesy of a goal from Keilani Kooper. The freshman took the ball on the right side headed for goal, outdistanced the would-be Tiger defenders and fired a bouncing shot into the back of the net.
In the 73rd minute, Westridge, in its first road game of the season, broke through for a goal. It came from freshman Danika Vargas, who stole the ball on the left side of the field and wound up a shot with pace that rocketed into the top of the net to deny the Titans’ goalkeepers a clean sheet.
In the 79th minute, Titan Sasha Redshaw, who anchored the defense in the back, got in on the scoring. Coming out of the back, the senior got the ball in the midfield and booted a shot from roughly 40 yards out that sailed over the Tiger goalkeeper’s head and dropped into the net for the final goal of the contest.
“Everyone was really contacted,” said Redshaw of the defensive effort in the opener. “I think that the communication was really helping everyone in the back line, making sure everyone was covering and marking their men.”
San Marino 2, Mayfield 1
The Titans followed up their season-opening win with another victory two days later, while hosting Mayfield. In the 2-1 win, No scored one goal and junior Charli Redshaw scored her first of the campaign. Tokuchi registered an assist.
First published in the Dec. 7 issue of the San Marino Tribune
