SANTA ANA – They came into the Excalibur Tournament under the radar. No real chatter surrounding a squad that still hadn’t lost a match one month into the season.
It’s not that Tesoro’s players felt disrespected as much as they felt they had something to prove.
Three days, five wins and one sword later, the Titans now find themselves in the spotlight of the Orange County girls soccer scene.
Behind senior forwards Hailey Hite and Kaitlin Cook, who combined to score all three of the team’s goals, Tesoro was the last team standing in the 32-team showcase, outlasting Esperanza, 3-1, in Monday’s championship match at Foothill High.
Tesoro, which improved to 10-0-3, knocked off Buchanan of Clovis in the semifinals Monday morning before celebrating with the tournament’s coveted Excalibur sword later that afternoon.
“Taking the game to the other team is what we‘ve done all week, rather than wait and hit on counter attacks,” Tesoro coach George Deverrick explained. “We’ve been very aggressive going forward because we’ve got creativity, and because we’ve got players that are willing to work hard for each other.”
In the first half, it was Cook who caused problems for the Aztecs’ gifted back line, consistently making deep runs into the attacking third. The senior captain served up four dangerous crosses into the Esperanza box in the first 40 minutes.
The Titans were eventually rewarded for their pressure in the 38th minute when Kate O’Connor chipped a pass over a crowd of Esperanza defenders, connecting with Hite who tapped the ball into net for the match’s opening score.
“Last year it was a bummer because we had so many chances, but we were never able to finish anything,” Hite said. “So this year, to actually get a reward for all of our work is really exciting.”
The bounces last season rarely went in favor of Tesoro, which finished 3-13-2. While they dominated the first half of play with their pressure, the Titans briefly looked as if they would continue to struggle getting breaks.
Seconds before the halftime, Esperanza’s Isabel Dehakiz was able to control a long pass sent into the box, turn, and rip the tying goal into net.
With seven battle-tested seniors on the roster, however, the Titans carried the same type of aggression and physicality it played with in the first half into in the second, ultimately leading to Hite’s second goal in the 67th minute, and Cook’s insurance strike in the 69th.
“I’ve coached four of the seven seniors on this team for three of the past four years now,” Deverrick added. “It’s kind of like I owe them something, that they go out on a high.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
