SANTA ANA – When she saw the ball sail over the crossbar, Los Alamitos striker Krystal DeRamos couldn’t help but clutch her jersey, eventually pulling it over her face out of frustration.
A day after her two-goal performance, DeRamos and her teammates failed to score against Esperanza and its stingy defensive third on Saturday.
After the Aztecs capitalized on a set piece in the third minute of the match, their back line packed it in defensively for the remainder of the contest, ultimately holding on to a 1-0 win over Los Alamitos in the quarterfinals of the Excalibur Tournament at Foothill High.
Esperanza – who has posted three consecutive shutouts in the 32-team showcase – will play Huntington Beach at 9:30 a.m. in Monday’s semifinals. The championship match will be held at 2:30 p.m. that day.
“We’re young, so we’ve been kind of depending on the back four,” Aztecs coach John King said. “If we don’t give up goals, we’re not going to lose. That’s kind of been our philosophy. We’ve been finding ways to finish on our opportunities and then defend well.”
Esperanza’s Sarah Song, Alyssa Boots, Katelyn Traver and Madison Potts played as the best unit on the field Saturday, limiting the number of shots goalkeeper Melissa Weck had to face.
The lone goal of the match came on an Aztecs set piece minutes after kickoff. Taken from the center line, it was Traver who delivered a long, arcing ball into the box that was headed onto net by Isabel Dehakiz. Originally blocked away by Griffins keeper Angelique Anguiano, the ball was rebounded and knocked into the net by Esperanza forward Tatiana Kovacs.
Despite having a handful of opportunities late in the second half, Los Al was never able to muster the game’s tying goal.
Also in the Excalibur Tournament:
Huntington Beach 0, Canyon 0 (Huntington Beach advances on PKs, 4-3): After both teams were held scoreless in regulation, it was the Oilers who walked off the pitch celebrating penalty kicks.
Tesoro 2, Foothill 1: Titans freshman Sofie Kreitl scored the eventual winning goal in the 68th minute of play, preventing penalty kicks and sending Tesoro to Monday’s semifinal against Buchanan High of Clovis. With the score knotted at 1-1 late in regulation, Kreitl capitalized on a shot Knights goalkeeper Justine Rendl was unable to hang on to. The young midfielder tapped the ball into the net off the rebound.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com