HUNTINGTON BEACH – Huntington Beach goalkeeper Rachel Harris must read minds, or perhaps she has the quick reflexes of a cat.
The senior blocked all four Chino Hills attempts in a shootout, while her teammates made two of four shots, to help lead the Oilers’ girls soccer team to a victory in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoff quarterfinals.
Regulation ended with a 2-2 draw and both teams were held scoreless in two overtime periods.
“She’s the heart and soul of our program,” Huntington Beach coach Raul Ruiz said about Harris. “She keeps us going even though we made mistakes.”
The win advances Huntington Beach to the semifinals for the first time in the school’s history, according to Ruiz. The Oilers will face JSerra on Tuesday at Huntington Beach.
Last season, Chino Hills reached the Division 1 semifinals but lost to Tesoro. The Baseline League champions fought to the end, but could not move past the defense of Huntington Beach often.
Huntington Beach, (20-7-4) kept a diamond formation defense toward the end of the game and the midfielders played back a bit, forcing Chino Hills (18-6-3) into the long ball.
Harris had an opportunity to end the game in the first overtime with a penalty kick after teammate Alexandra Lotter drew a foul on a breakaway, but Harris missed the shot over the crossbar.
In the middle of the second half, Chino Hills forward Telusilla Vunipola found a deflected ball in front of the goal and slammed it into the net to tie the score, 2-2, after Harris blocked a Claudia-Gigi Soto penalty kick.
Huntington Beach midfielder Alijah Oliver scored two goals in regulation, once driving the ball over the Chino Hills keeper in the center of the net, giving the Oilers a 2-1 lead at the beginning of the second half. The other goal came in the first half off a cross from Cina Wilson, who beat a Chino Hills defender toward the left corner of the field to force the play.
Chino Hills forward Emily Jauregui scored the first goal near the beginning of the game. After Soto took a free kick from about 5 yards outside the penalty box, she found Jauregui on the right hand side in front of the net.
