LA MIRADA – It was cold. Darn near freezing for Southern California, even in late December.
But the thermometer’s reading and the frigid conditions weren’t to blame for what turned out to be a forgettable first half of soccer for Cypress.
In fact, no one was able to put their finger on it, not even Centurions’ coach Nicole Woiemberghe.
“I honestly don’t know what it was,” she said. “(Mira Costa) was very quick, and we came out very hesitant.”
The Mustangs’ speed, at least early on, certainly rattled Cypress.
Cat-quick forward McKenna Doyle put Mira Costa up by two goals early on, and her third strike not only gave her a hat trick, it also gave the Mustangs the first-place trophy in Tuesday night’s North Orange County Championship with a 3-1 win over the Centurions at La Mirada High.
“We just came out really slow,” Woiemberghe said.
Against a Mira Costa squad gifted with pace, slow was the one thing Cypress could not afford to be.
Doyle, specifically, showed early on just how dangerous a player she is in space. In the fourth minute of play, the senior striker snuck behind two Centurion defenders, corralled a beautiful through ball from Viviana Villacorta and finished with a strike into the side netting past goalkeeper Brooke Riddle for the match’s first goal.
She added another strike in the 17th minute, outracing a pair of Cypress defenders to a ball that had grazed off the right post and stayed in play before she netted it on the rebound.
“We started to possess (the ball) a little bit, and our transition from defense to offense was a lot better the second half,” Woiemberghe said. “The second half we were more aggressive attacking.”
After the Doyle show in the first half, Jenna Dages and Kelly Kessloff led an early Cypress onslaught that quickly cut the deficit in half.
Dages alone had four shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The junior forward put Cypress on the scoreboard in the 50th minute off of a Mira Costa give away deep on its side of the pitch.
Despite the newfound energy, Dages strike was the only goal Cypress’ attack would muster.
Doyle put the match out of reach in the 64th minute with her third goal of the contest.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
