El Toro strikes back to win in OT

HUNTINGTON BEACH - With her team trailing by a goal, Mariah Noguiera heard the referee say there was a minute remaining in the game.

That was just enough time for the Marina senior, who scored a tying goal with less than five seconds left, forcing overtime in the Vikings' CIF-SS Division I girls soccer playoff game Tuesday against El Toro. It was the Vikings' second goal in the final six minutes.

However, El Toro struck the final dramatic blow, as Brooke Ellison headed in the winning goal shortly into the extra-time period, giving the Chargers a 3-2 victory in the second-round match at Marina High.

El Toro (17-4-3), which has won 10 in a row, moves on to face Murrieta Valley on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Marina (11-10-5) finished third in the Sunset League.

Noguiera's goal evened the score at 2. The referee blew the whistle as soon as El Toro touched the kick off.

“You couldn't cut it any closer than that,” said Noguiera, who is headed to Stanford in the fall. “We've been down 2-0 at the half before. I didn't want to give up. I wanted to set the tone and show the effort.”

The Chargers, who led 2-0 at the half, were forced to quickly regroup after Noguiera's goal. They did, and four minutes into overtime Ellison headed in Emily Goldstein's corner kick for the golden goal.

“I'm really excited,” Ellison said. “This is a big deal for us. We have a strong group of girls who believe in each other.”

The Chargers and Vikings played a relatively even first half, but the Chargers struck twice in the final five minutes and led 2-0 at intermission.

Flecia Franco scored the first goal on a right-footer from 20 yards for a 1-0 lead. Just before half, Goldstein knocked in a header off Kelly Latimer's cross to make it 2-0.

“We came out hard and started strong,” Chargers coach Sarah Yee said. “We played a very possessed game. The second half we fell victim to their game. They (the El Toro players) were very frazzled at the end of the second half. We told them to calm down and trust each other and play as a team. I'm proud of them.”

The Vikings were trailing, 2-0, and their hopes fading when Kirsten Marony brought them new life. Michelle Wieland came out to break up a through ball, but she became entangled on the ground with Norguiera.

Marony controlled the ball and let a 35-yard floater sail toward the empty net to cut the deficit to 2-1 with six minutes to go. With time ticking down, Norguiera came free in the box and scored far post for the dramatic, tying goal.

“It was so fitting,” Vikings coach Mike Greco said of her goal. “She gave it her all in front of her fans. I'm glad she got it. What were the odds we would score two goals in six minutes? The girls impressed me. I'm proud of that.”

Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com