No. 1 Aliso Niguel edges Sunny Hills to remain unbeaten

ALISO VIEJO- In a battle of the county’s last two unbeaten teams, the persistence of senior Lauren Benner provided the winning margin for top-ranked Aliso Niguel.

Benner scored the lone goal of the match in the first half, as the Wolverines edged the Sunny Hills Lancers 1-0 in a nonleague match Saturday at Aliso Niguel High.

“At the beginning of the game they (Sunny Hills) were psyched,” Benner said. “But as the game went on, Coach Dodge’s talk to us at halftime got our spirits up and we were able to fight through this game.”

With the victory, Aliso Niguel moved to 11-0-3 and ended Sunny Hills’ season-opening 17-match winning streak.

“We did struggle a bit tonight, but found a way to win,” Wolverines coach Randy Dodge said. “I’m really proud of this group and to be the only team left in the county that is currently unbeaten is cool.”

Both teams opened the match with deep penetrating runs into the attacking third. Sunny Hills nearly took the lead in the fourth minute of the match, but a twisting shot by sophomore Maribell Morales was stopped on dive to the right by Wolverines senior goalie Sammy Prud’homme.

It was a wild scramble in the front of the box in the 12th minute that produced the only goal of the match. After Benner’s follow-up of a shot attempt by Wolverines freshman Sarah Roberts was initially stopped by Lancers junior goalie Maggie Morales, junior teammate Lindsay Doyle kicked another shot toward the goal that was also stopped by Morales. But Benner stayed with the play, slid to the right of Morales, and pushed the loose ball into the corner of the net.

“The ball hit off my thigh and the keeper got to it,” Benner said. “Lindsay (Doyle) kicked it in and it bounced off the goalie again and I was able to slide in.”

Behind the efforts of senior midfielder Brittany Aanderud, Sunny Hills continued to try and attack the Wolverines defense with several long passes into the attacking third. But Aliso Niguel’s defense stiffened and managed to limit the Lancers from getting open shots at the goal.

Benner nearly added another goal in the 51st minute when she rolled a shot that appeared headed for the far corner of the goal. But the ball angled just wide of the far post and rolled out of bounds.

The Lancers offense continued to make runs toward the attacking third throughout the half, but backline defenders Tegan Cramer and Nicole Smolinski helped keep them away producing quality looks.

Sunny Hills did have two final scoring chances in the final 10 minutes of the match. In the 72nd minute, Morales sent a pass into the box for sophomore Sarah Fajnor who found room to get off a shot. But the ball floated over the cross bar.

In the 78th minute, Aanderud sent a high arching free kick toward the goal that was saved by Prud’homme to help close out the match.

Despite the defeat, Lancers head coach Jeff Gordon was highly encouraged by the effort his team displayed.

“We wanted to find out about ourselves and I liked what I saw,” he said. “I think we earned some respect and proved to ourselves that we are one of the top teams in Orange County.”