Brea Olinda Gets Closer to Title With 2-0 Victory

Brea Olinda moved one step closer to its fourth consecutive Orange League girls’ soccer championship with a 2-0 victory over Valencia Tuesday at Brea.

Brea Olinda, 11-7-1 overall and 7-0-0 in league, scored twice in the second half to distance itself from the league’s second-place team, Valencia (11-5-2, 5-2-0).

Brea Olinda Coach Mike Knaus said it was the first time Brea Olinda has defeated Valencia twice in a season; Brea Olinda won 3-0 on Jan. 11.

The Wildcats have outscored league opponents this season, 43-2, and the Tigers were expected to be their closest competition.

Katie O’Brien scored the winning goal from near the left sideline, about 25 yards out, after it flicked off teammate Susan Shuplock’s head in the 64th minute.

“I trapped it and turned it away from the defender and shot my life away,” said O’Brien, whose shot curled in front of the goal and went in at the far post.

About 11 minutes later, Alli Mauzey received a well-placed cross from Tennli Ulicny in front of the goal and scored to make it 2-0.

The second half was much different than the first, when Valencia dominated.

“[The Tigers] were doing everything they could and they played very well. They didn’t give us easy opportunities. We had to make those opportunities,” Knaus said. “In the first half, we were trying to go too fast up the field, we weren’t playing in control.”

Brea Olinda has three league games remaining, against Savanna, Anaheim and Magnolia. It defeated those teams by a combined score of 20-1 in the first round of league play.

Brea Olinda returned 11 starters from last year, when it advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division III playoffs. Senior goalkeeper Christine Geske, a first-team all-league selection last season, broke her thumb before this season and freshman Megan Pickering started the first half of the season. Geske and Pickering split time in the last few games before Geske played her first full game against Valencia. She had five saves.

In another Orange League game:

Magnolia 4, Savanna 0--Becky Young recorded the hat trick for visiting Magnolia (9-8-2, 4-2-1), which led 3-0 at the end of the half. Savanna is 0-12-1, 0-7.